tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77559870502800638852024-03-06T01:00:49.254+00:00Life Times TwoOccasional posts from the frontier between real and virtual lifeRob Dantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084266468696645818noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7755987050280063885.post-27747750612735698952008-09-08T10:36:00.012+01:002008-09-09T10:45:34.203+01:00art surgery in a virtual world<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7pAdheqvTNK7w8-MGX_OZOvDDc8B40C3hgLBbRROyz0W1A2yq2PoHl6iah6TdrRsIJakNRrfw48CER6P2GRAqXd-ls09R_iEBCbfGa65r4K_L10qlklSmDqU6Rc6awS3vs0vQZVBKVxk/s1600-h/yipsgips3.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7pAdheqvTNK7w8-MGX_OZOvDDc8B40C3hgLBbRROyz0W1A2yq2PoHl6iah6TdrRsIJakNRrfw48CER6P2GRAqXd-ls09R_iEBCbfGa65r4K_L10qlklSmDqU6Rc6awS3vs0vQZVBKVxk/s320/yipsgips3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243955279774530914" /></a><br /><br /><div>This post about a <a href="http://dusanwriter.com/?p=879/">virtual motorcycle accident</a> prompted me to blog about a real one.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was when I found myself hospitalised for the first time in RL that I had a mindblowing SL/RL experience.</div><div><br /></div><div>On August 8 I was in a motorbike accident which shattered my left wrist. I was due to fly out to the US that weekend for a weeks work on a Second Life related film project but almost before I hit the ground, it was pretty clear that I was not going to make that trip.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the ambulance I spoke to the director of the film and I mailed my closest friend in Second Life (thx to the iPhone). The next 24 hours of pain, morphine, an operation under general anaesthetic and then more morphine went by in a blur, but throughout it I was in contact with loved ones in both worlds.</div><div><br /></div><div>I had visits from RL friends and relatives, and one morphine induced(?) visit from someone from Second Life... Of course only the real life friends brought me stuff to eat... but news kind of spreads faster in the metaverse so I had a lot of messages.</div><div><br /></div><div>After my departure from RL hospital and re-entry to Second Life (to jokes about one handed typing of course), I was given a prim plaster cast and sling by virtual world artist AuraKyo Insoo. Kean Kelly wrote on it in marker pen and alpha channel, transforming it straight away into something really... well... special.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then, yesterday, four Yip, an amazingly talented Second Life artist dropped a new plaster cast on me. I was speechless.</div><div><br /></div><div>It contains textures from well wishers in my Second Life... and is beautifully put together in a way totally NPIRL (Not Practical in Real Life:), complete with string, prim mice, flowers and butterflies. I was speechless.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's not a lifesaving treatment but... I really feel I have been treated </div><div><br /></div><div>It is the sweetest thing that anyone could have done, with much appreciated contributions from Second Life and flickr friends: Kean, Jaja Lubitsch, Naxxos Loon, Roslin Petion and Vint Falken. </div><div><br /></div><div>Thank you :)</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Rob Dantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084266468696645818noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7755987050280063885.post-2520830180232027352008-05-26T16:07:00.003+01:002008-05-26T16:22:11.864+01:00The Sojourner is offlineSecond Life lost a great presence on Sunday, when <a href="http://dreambits.blogspot.com/2008/05/to-melt-into-sun.html">Soj</a> died. She was someone who discovered ways of using the technology of virtual worlds to help people who really needed help. Many people who are more eloquent than me have left tributes hinting at the loss to our virtual world; please take some time to visit her <a href="http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dreams%20Events/151/76/25">memorial site</a> and donate whatever you can afford to keep the project running.<br /><br />I first met her shortly after I discovered Second Life and interviewed her for a newspaper article... of course it was cut to a few paragraphs but her answers are thoughtful enough to reproduce in full, and may give an insight to those who never met her into why she will be so badly missed.<br /><br /><br />Interview with Soj, Feb 2006<br /><br /><br />First I would like to add a Question.<br />(What is Brigadoon?)<br />Brigadoon is a private, closed island, meaning that people can travel to the Mainland in Second Life (SL) but people who are on the mainland can not get into Brigadoon without permission from John Lester. Brigadoon doesn’t even show up on the SL map. This is an important feature. It allows us protection, structure, and the ability to become a family. Brigadoon is more than a place. It is a community of people who have learned about each other and become friends. While most of us explore the outside world (the main grid), we come back to Brigadoon because it is our “home.”<br /><br />Why did you start visiting Brigadoon ¬ how did you get involved?<br /><br />When John Lester first posted the notice asking for people dealing with Asperger Syndrome on the BrainTalk forums, I responded thinking it might be something my son might enjoy. He has Asperger Syndrome and likes computer games. He was 15 at the time and I wanted to check it out to see if the game was appropriate and would interest him. I asked John to admit me. I was not in the first group admitted (Coos, Helga, Ginger, Rain) but followed shortly after. <br /><br />This was my first online “game” and I am not computer saavy. Plus, as a stroke-survivor, I was a little slow picking up on how things worked. The first thing I found was that I needed a better video card. Second Life is very dependent on having the proper computer system.<br /><br />The second thing that I discovered was that SL is not a “game” per se. SL truly can be a second life. It has an economy. People can work there. They can be entertained. You can walk through a park, go to the store, go to a fair, engage in “adult” activities, play games, gamble, work, you name it… anything that you can do in real life, you can do in Second Life.. with (maybe)the exception of bodily functions. The creativity of the people there will probably bridge even that gap eventually.<br /><br />Many people go to SL to escape. There is considerable role-playing in some areas. Some people choose a character that is unlike themselves, physically or socially. Others choose someone very like themselves. I have noticed that there is a tendency to make their avatars (characters that represent you) to resemble the real person at first, especially in shape and then gradually change it. In addition, there is a tendency to want land and a home as part of the initial comfort zone. One of the first questions is often.. “How do I make money?”<br /><br />Needless to say, my son who enjoys action computer games was not interested in SL. It did suit me, though, and as soon as my computer was up to it, I became a regular. When I first joined Brigadoon, I had no expectations because I didn’t have a clue as to what it was. However, I wanted to remain among the “Dooners” to learn from them and to understand better the things my son thought and did. It has been very helpful in understanding the challenges he will have as an adult.<br /><br />How often do you go?<br />I consider Brigadoon “home” in SL. I have a house there. It is where I go when I want some quiet. I can sit on the front porch of my house and see fabulous sunsets and sunrises across the water. When I first started in SL almost a year and a half ago, I spent all my time there with brief forays to the mainland for classes. Now, I go for the weekly meetings on Sunday. Generally, they last a couple of hours. Occasionally, if someone is there during the week, I pop over there to chat or if I have a need to “refuel,” I go there for that too.<br /><br />What do you do when you visit Brigadoon?<br />Socialize basically. I have rebuilt my little house/area several times. It is where I keep my SP treasures and momentos since I don’t have a house on the mainland. Sometimes I build or clean out my inventory. Mostly I go back to socialize with the other “Dooners” or teach one of the newer members building skills.<br /><br />How has Brigadoon changed since your first visits?<br />It has changed a lot. When I first went, everyone was learning about each other. The land was relatively empty. Now, most of the group knows each other pretty well and the land is built up as people gain new skills. In the last few months, we have admitted a number of people from the main grid - two who have Asperger and one who is a teacher of children with disabilities. As in any group setting, the admission of newcomers changes the dynamic until they also become a part of the family. We are contemplating on bringing a few other people who have applied into the group but then the island will be at capacity… not only size-wise, but interaction-wise. That was the impetus for the Brigadoon Explorers. The Explorers will “live” on the mainland and but will have the Brigadoon network of people available to them. <br /><br />How has it helped you with regard to your son (eg meeting other<br />parents/teachers or adults with AS)?<br />Asperger Syndrome is a syndrome, meaning that it made up of several common characteristics but each can vary in the degree to which they affect the individual. In addition, many people with AS have concomitant disorders such as Attention Deficit Disorder (Hyperactive or not), Non-verbal Learning Disorders, Dyslexia and more. However, in watching and listening to people with Asperger (both in SL and RL), there are some characteristics that are stonger than others across all individuals. In talking with the adults in Brigadoon who have AS, I have gained many insights into my son’s behavior in seeing what may be due to the AS and what is just a part of his personality. I see him reflected in them and them reflected in him. It has helped me ask better questions of him so that I understand his attitudes and actions more clearly.<br /><br />One of the most frightening things that has come up is an awareness of how tentative a happy, successful working life will be. A number of the group has mentioned how difficult getting a paying job commensurate with their abilities is. The interview process is problematic. They have the knowledge, the ability and the skill. However, because of the social skills component (sometimes the lack of facial expression or verbal enthusiasm, bluntness, having a different interpretation of abstract statements, etc.), they are passed over for something they could do as well or better than their job competitors. Knowledge is not the problem. Translating that knowledge into a good interview is difficult.<br /><br />Why do you think it¹s popular with people with AS?<br />Hmmm. I don’t think it is popular just with people with AS. I think it is popular with a wide range of people. I think that those with a technical knowledge of on-line games and a curiosity about what is possible are drawn to it. Many AS people fall into this category but so do other people. <br /><br />So many people comment on its uniqueness. I act as an SL Mentor which means that I can meet many people as they come into SL. Very often, new people are amazed at the possibilities and the different nature of this on-line adventure.<br /><br />People with a lot of various conditions and disabilities appreciate SL. There are a lot of people with debilitating arthritis, cancer, and chronic depression to mention a few. In Second Life, they can live a life with social contacts reaching personalities and countries that are not available to them otherwise. No one need know your RL difficulties or personal characteristics unless you tell them. You can be you without the trappings. It is not a surprise that the people who spend the most time there have something that keep them from working a full job in real life. Those that do, don’t have time to spend all day there. <br /><br />In terms of Brigadoon, I think that the ability to be around people with many of the same types of experiences is refreshing and validating. Problems that were considered unique became shared experiences and took some of the sting out of them, increasing understanding. It also gave the opportunity to realize that many of the things that were bothersome to a person with AS were also bothersome to people who did not have AS. I think the ability to be among people sharing a common goal.. to make connections and explore friendships in a safe environment was key.<br /><br />SL is often referred to as an Œonline game¹ ¬ but it¹s much more than that,<br />how would you describe Brigadoon ¬ what does it mean to you?<br />I think I covered this one in the paragraphs above.<br /><br />What is ShockProof?<br />ShockProof is a group of stroke (brain attack) survivors, people who have suffered TIAs (Transient Ischemic Attacks), and others interested in the support of stroke survivors. I was told that the word “shock” refers to stroke in some places of the world.<br /><br />When and why did you launch it?<br />ShockProof was launched in December, 2004. I am a multiple-stroke survivor. I was finding that participation in Second Life was giving much needed socialization, improvement in executive function skills (planning and executing things), increasing activity stamina and better short term memory skills. As a wife and mother and someone who no longer had many of the avenues of self-expression previously available, I found it valuable as a way to delve into new vistas of creativity. Things that had been put aside could now find their way to the fore. There are so many ways to express yourself in SL and so many new things to learn.<br /><br />I thought that the way that John set up Brigadoon would be ideal to a person with stroke. I didn’t feel that the private island would be necessary because I think that most stroke survivors will want to dive into the mainland activities fairly quickly. However, it is very important to the stroke survivor to have stability and a way to draw on something dependable in order to be able to feel secure in learning new ways of exploration. That would demand a place to “be” – a home such as John provided us in Brigadoon. It would also demand an easily accessible learning grounds.<br /><br />As a way of discovering whether there was an interest in SL, I turned to the stroke forums in BrainTalk, which I had frequented pretty much daily since 1995 after my first stroke. I actually discovered it earlier, soon after it started, when we were researching Arachnoid Cysts (a brain cyst) which my son had. Two people immediately signed up. So I had to shuffle quickly to find a place for us to meet. John Prototype lent us a temporary place to meet on his land. Shortly after that Rain and Coos from Brigadoon also offered assistance. Coos had spent time on the mainland and he generously donated a considerable area for us to begin ShockProof. He and Rain had both suffered TIAs so they also became members of ShockProof. Unfortunately, things transpired that we had to sell the land.<br /><br />I feel that there are two things necessary to make ShockProof work (outside of having a membership) – a place to “be,” meaning a home base with a physical component that you can retreat to or entertain and an easily accessible place to meet others to help you along and to explore your possibilities. After selling the land that formed the first ShockProof land, efforts to develop the group that would assist ShockProof members was the first priority. I learned early on that one person could not be the sole support system for the education and emotional needs of a group. That is where Dreams came in.<br /><br />Until recently, we did not have land for housing for new members. We now have limited accommodations for about a dozen people. Land is very expensive in LL in terms of the monthly US$ fees. It is tied to the number of objects a person can own or have on the land. Therefore, the more objects needed on the land, the more it costs to have enough land to support the individuals living on it. Right now, Rick Kent, a ShockProof member and John Prototype provides some assistance in keeping the land we do have for ShockProof and Dreams. However, more is needed to support our activities and membership. Funding is a problem.<br /><br />When and why did you start Dreams ¬ what¹s on it so far?<br />Hmmm. I started Dreams right after we sold the ShockProof land, probably about a year ago. <br />When I first started ShockProof it was due to the unexpected arrival of members when a structure was not really there for it. After realizing the importance of a home base to the group and the need for an expanded support base, I formed Dreams. <br /><br />Dreams is our home base for the Dream Travelers (membership), Dream Weavers (officers), ShockProof activities, Brigadoon Explorer meetings, and is an area for people new to SL to come and learn and practice skills in a safe environment. The purpose behind it is to provide a place where people can come to explore their ideas and “dreams” in an atmosphere that fosters creativity. We have tutorials and materials for new individuals. We have a core group that visit most every day who have interests in vehicle making, clothing design, the arts, building, scripting, exploring science through SL, etc. These people swap their ideas with each other and are willing to help newcomers find ways to accomplish their own “dreams.” In addition, we have people outside of the Dreams network who are often open to calls for “help” when we don’t have the answers.<br /><br />This is to be the activity center, not only for the Dream Travelers, but for ShockProof.<br /><br />The physical plant of Dreams consists of 3 parts:<br />1. The stage/tutorials/and small sandbox. The stage can be used for teaching classes or practicing things learned in the tutorials. The self-learning tutorial covers building and managing your inventory. Cid Jacobs scripted the actual book style tutorial while I wrote the text. I had to learn aspects of Photoshop to do this as well as some minor scripting. A sandbox is an area to create things.<br /><br />2. The Events area. I feel that it is important to the learning process to not just learn about things but to put it into practice. So, we have a slice of land devoted to putting on events. In the past, we have had landscaping contests, a Christmas in August competition showing various concepts of Christmas in a warm month, a Haunted House building contest, a Thanks-Giving contest using SL tools to express things you are thankful for and how you “give back,” an art exhibition, and a sculpture exhibition. The events are open to all people in SL. However, I make sure that the people in Brigadoon and ShockProof are included as much as they can be. Coos, Rain, Helga, and Amalthea from Brigadoon have been particularly active in events and event-creation. The art exhibition had many RL artists bringing their work into SL. Next week we will start a home building competition. That will be followed by a Cultural/Educational Fair with various “helping” and Cultural groups being featured for a few weeks.<br /><br />3. We have a small store containing items developed by Dreams members. It includes small houses, paintings, clothing, textures, and a small freebie selection, as well as a large plant selection in the garden. (a few rabbits and frogs, too).<br />Each time the store has been built (it cycles through new builders each month or so), it has been the first building project of a Dreams member.<br /><br />The ShockProof land is on a peninsula attached to Dreams.<br /><br />How has it helped you and other stroke survivors?<br />Have you ever heard the phrase, “Use it or lose it?” While the physical therapists and occupational therapists stress the part you can see, so many times the part you can’t see is left behind. The cognitive piece and the part of you that is frightened or is “lost.” SL provides a method of massaging and providing a platform for both. Maybe the person who sleeps in a chair most of the day does it for lack of stimulation as much as the after-effects of stroke.<br /><br />I feel that a stroke is debilitating on so many fronts. You can lose your friends and family because they may not know how to approach you or how to talk to you. Sometimes people automatically feel that a person with a stroke has become less intelligent. Stroke is not confined to the elderly. Many, many stroke survivors are still in their working years. They lose their identity as a person, as a care-GIVER, as a self-sufficient person because they no longer stand in the world in the same way. There is no going back, even in strokes from which you “recover.” <br /><br />Many stroke survivors become isolated… not only because they may be less physically able, or less communicatively able, but because they no longer know how to reach out into the things they were familiar with.<br /><br />SL has the potential of providing a new network of friends within a realm where your physical deficits are not visible. Your age is not apparent. Your desire to explore and learn is solely dependant upon yourself. Most people are friendly. There is practically any avenue that you want to explore there for the taking. There is skydiving, fishing (I won a fishing tournament…), hiking, flying, you name it. For people who lost their job identity, there are people functioning as wedding planners, ministers, teachers, architects, landscapers, builders, accountants, shop owners, beauty consultants, the list is endless.<br /><br />When I started SL, I was hampered (a lot) by stamina, the loss of outside contacts, short-term memory problems, problems projecting and carrying out plans, following information, multi-tasking, and so much more. In the last year, all of those areas have improved. I have met supportive people from all over the world… many very different than I. Other members of the group have expanded their interests and willingness to socialize as they have tried new things. <br /><br />I used to teach and that was closed to me. When I first started SL it was depressing to see how difficult it was to understand the process I needed to follow and to attempt things that used to be easy but no longer were. But, it came along in bursts and trickles. Now, I can explore skills that I had in my prior life through a new avenue.<br /><br />One of the things it can have the greatest impact on is providing a sense of purpose and accomplishment. Something of which the stroke survivor often has a limited supply. <br /><br />How many members do you have?<br />Right now our number is limited. Activity was slowed because I didn’t have land for housing. There are 3 members who have had strokes and 2 who have had mini-strokes (TIAs, the long-term effects are briefer). We also have 2 members who have an interest in stroke because of family members who have vascular disease or in the area in general. I would like the group to be a mix of stroke survivors, individuals with lesser impact such as TIA, caregivers, and other interested parties. This increases the quantity and quality of support as well as enlarges the knowledge base on stroke.<br /><br />Last week, I re-opened the membership drive since we now have housing. So, we are in that portion of our plan for ShockProof again. The underpinnings of the project are there. <br /><br />Why do you think SL is such a useful therapeutic tool?<br />It lets you be whomever you choose to be. You do not have to have any physical deformities show. You can let your inner person show through. You can explore areas normally not in your grasp. You can meet and learn about so many people you would never meet otherwise. You can reveal who you are at a pace controlled by you. It is amazing to watch the growth in people over time. I have seen it in Brigadoon and I have seen it in Dreams and ShockProof. People who are closed and protective begin to open up and explore relationships and themselves. Soon, they are expressing themselves and doing things in ways they thought they would never do. Most everyone I have talked to in SL who spend any time there say that things they say and do in SL moves into RL (Real Life). (Aside: We were laughing at Dreams the other day how sometimes when we are talking in real life we catch ourselves saying LOL (laugh out loud) or BRB (be right back).)<br /><br />SL gives you the opportunity to practice new things using old tools. Or, in the case of some of us.. to be able to practice social and compensatory techniques in a place that doesn’t impact the people who are around us on a daily basis in our real lives.<br /><br />Learning is growth and growth is Life. SL can give us a second avenue to life.<br /><br /><br />Now, you didn’t ask about this but there IS a down side to SL and it should probably be mentioned because all of us in Brigadoon and ShockProof have encountered it.<br />1. The people in SL bring to the game everything that they are in real life. Behind every avatar (the characters in SL) is a person. Therefore, regardless if they are role-playing or not, there are personalities, histories, expectations, and intentions. The externals of social status or physical appearance can be wiped away but not the internal nature of the person. Therefore, social interaction in SL while ripe for new communication and methods of communicating, is still between individuals who express joy and sadness and can be supported or hurt. The problem with SL is that it is a condensed, intensive life. And, because you don’t have the timing and visibility of RL, changes in relationships in SL can be more intense. You can not always contact a person about a misunderstanding because the person is not available to you if he/she is not on-line. Or, you may not be able to follow-up on a positive relationship for the same reason. RL may intrude all of a sudden calling you away and you may have to leave people who depended on you clueless as to why you are no longer in their world. The instability of reliable SL relationships can be a problem unless you bring them into RL. Some people do cross the divide but you have to be careful, as in any internet relationship.<br />2. SL can be addictive. You need to balance your RL and SL. If you start to get too busy in SL where it is infringing on your family and real life activities, you really need to pull back a bit. SL has the ability to pull you along because every action you make is the predecessor to another. People pop in and out in an unscheduled manner so you have to be able to balance your needs with their needs. While the intensity of SL can be a good tool to learn about yourself, you have to keep it in balance with your application in real life or things become too stressful. Something for relaxation can become harmful. Several people I know have had to take breaks from SL or had health conditions worsen because of the degree to which they get involved with it. For that reason, I, personally, would not recommend it to a person with an addictive personality or who is chronically depressed. I have seen bad results in both cases.<br />3. SL is a business and an evolving technology. While Linden Labs is trying to create a new world which is constantly changing, it also needs to stay solvent. Their initial basic membership plan is free. Which is great. You can live at Second Life the whole time you are there without paying a penny if you have the right computer system if you are not interested in having your own space. Space costs real dollars. The Premium membership has a yearly fee and if you want land, there is a monthly fee as well based on the amount of land you have. The thing is, if you have belongings that you want to display, they consume prims (the basic building unit that makes up all objects and structures in SL). The number of prims are tied to the amount of land you have. So, if you want to do anything elaborate, you can end up spending quite a bit of money each month and that may hamper some of your activity (or in my case, ability to provide for the group).<br />4. The rapid evolution of the technology and needs of SL often creates frequent updates and a lot of lag (slowing of activity/motion) within SL. This can be difficult for a person with a disability because it adds to the lack of dependability in their activities. The ability of your computer is partially tied to the lag but often it is tied to the growth of the game itself. <br /><br /><br />Soj (The Sojourner)Rob Dantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084266468696645818noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7755987050280063885.post-41581774325636935192008-03-16T23:44:00.002+00:002008-03-16T23:45:48.304+00:00The Naming of NamesIf you refuse to wear a mask at a masked ball you'll spoil the fun, but if you insist on wearing a balaclava to walk down the street and you're not going to make many friends, either.<br /><br />The question is whether the virtual world is a masquerade or a regular street. Of course its both.<br /><br />Second Life begins for most people as a kind of masked ball. The anonymity is a big part of the magic. Maybe its a part of what makes us a bit more open.<br /><br />Initially I entered SL thinking it was all a great laugh and everyone was playing a game... I was just myself, but I believed nothing and trusted no one. Then I met people who really became friends, and my viewpoint switched - I believed in these people. I'd like to think that I know my friends in SL as well as I know some of my RL ones - I've certainly spent enough time with them.<br /><br />But is it enough to just known them as the characters they appear to be?<br /><br />This is totally ok on one level: you log in, you have fun and that's it. And that's exactly how I lived my Second Life for a while...<br /><br />But it gradually changed. Friendships deepened and RL details emerged, things you have in common... the ones that stand out now are the (very few) lasting friendships I have with totally blank RL details. Surely they are the ones missing out on the full connective power of the medium. <br /><br />Some believe that an avatar can carry as much weight a an RL identity, and there are certainly avatars in Second Life who deserve to be respected for what they have achieved in-world and they way they conduct themselves in the virtual environment, regardless of who or what they are outside Second Life.<br /><br />I'd like to believe that I could just accept people's avatars at face value. But I can't. This is a transient world that derives it's immersive power from the brain's need to believe what it perceives. Yet it is still a metaverse, that is an overlay on the real world. It's real people's brains. Here people can log in as different identities to express fragmented bits of their personality. Your sweet new friend might have another side expressed as a sadistic maniac, the lovely avatar who never hassles you might be controlled by the same RL person as the sneaky griefer who always follows you around.<br /><br />Over the years of friendship even in a virtual world, those whose stick to the "ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies" line stand out as being the ones still wearing the masks when everyone goes for breakfast in the morning and it makes me nervous.Rob Dantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084266468696645818noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7755987050280063885.post-18607199208992961792007-10-03T09:54:00.000+01:002007-10-03T11:33:50.600+01:00Virtual Worlds - A far-sighted essay from the dawn of history<em>"It is a technology that will allow us to make more and better art; potentially it is a technology that will dissolve the boundaries between us and allow us to see the contents of each others minds. There is also the possibility of improves methods of communication, states of near telepathy between participating human beings, can be coaxed out of imaginative use of technology. because of what VR is intrinsically, there are several ways in whcih it could become the basis of an entirely new form of communication between people."</em><br /><br />In 1990, Terence McKenna, the visionary theoretician and dreamer, wrote this as part of an article called <em>"Virtual Reality and Electronic Highs (Or On Becoming Virtual Octopi)"</em>. I just re-read it last night and it clicked. When I read Mckenna the first time around, I had no experience of virtual worlds and the impact of what he says here was lost on me.<br /><br />When he wrote this, McKenna had just taken part in a demonstration in San Francicso of a VR environment that, even by the standards of Second Life, was very primitive. But of all his wild forecasts for the future of humanity... this one seems to be panning out exactly as he saw it would.<br /><br /><em>"I had the eerie feeling that this might be what it would have been like to stop by the Wright brothers' bicycle shop to shoot the breeze with Wilbur and Orville about the latest ideas concerning lift ratios with airfoils.. These folks are on to something. They know it and I will wager that soon the whole world will know it. We are on the brink of another leap in evolution, folks."</em><br /><br />McKenna had some pretty far-out ideas, but in this, perhaps he hit the nail right on the head and saw the true transformational potential in virtual worlds that, even now, many involved in them cannot.<br /><br />For me, what McKenna pinpoints here is what makes Second Life such a magical realm. It helps me understand why this virtual world of shopping malls, nightclubs and ridiculous looking people is magic to me. I struggle to explain to people I know who try it and don't get it. They are like, "So what? What's the point?"<br /><br />"Did you talk to anyone?" I'll say, grasping at the feeling that communication with others is the essence of the magic, but I give up in the end...<br /><br />It's not the builds that are magic... the recreations of ancient temples, modern cities and so on.... that's is so not it. many of them are great and that's fine but it not the magic.... this is more than digital lego. McKenna saw this, and now I can't believe only I skim-read this essay of his in the early 90s.<br /><br />McKenna says: <em>"In trying to imagine the futures onto which these doors open, let us not forget that culture and language were the first virtual realities. A child is born into a world of unspeakable wonder. each part of the world is seen to glow with animate mystery and the beckoning light of the unknown. But quickly our parents and siblings provide us with words. At first these are nouns; that shimmering pattern of iridescence and sound is a "bird", that cool, silky, undulating surface is "water". As young children, we respond to our cultural programming and quickly replace mysterious things and feelings with culturally validated and familiar words....<br />... As we learn our lines and the blocking that goes with them, we move out of the inchoate realm of the preverbal child and into the realm of the first virtual reality, the VR of culture. many of us never realise that this domain is virtual, and instead we imagine we are discovering the true nature of the real world."</em><br /><br />Discuss :)Rob Dantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084266468696645818noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7755987050280063885.post-9806888949393411572007-07-13T06:53:00.000+01:002007-07-13T06:54:06.503+01:00blogging from the road.I've hired a car and driver. Flight to Dhaka cancelled. We've been on the road nearly 2 hours. I have to check in in 7 hours time. Should be ok. Flagging now, i've worked or travelled at least 12 hours a day for the last 12 days solid. I'm running out of energy in this 40 degree heat and 90% humidity.
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<br>---- Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phoneRob Dantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084266468696645818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7755987050280063885.post-87467464747021546422007-07-12T17:46:00.000+01:002007-07-12T17:47:13.920+01:00Leaving KathmanduSaid goodbye, hugged Ganga and jumped in a taxi at 1pm to check in at 2. Perfect timing.<br /><br />"That's hand luggage? Too big." Says a miserable man at the desk. I look surprised.<br /><br />"Oh really? I always take it on as hand luggage."<br /><br />"You must check in."<br /><br />"OK", I smile.<br /><br />I start pulling the security seal off it.<br /><br />"But I have to take my camera out... and my video camera... and my laptop..." I'm really making a big deal of trying to get the strap off to open it.<br /><br />"OK, take it through." He gives up and waves me through.<br /><br />The usual thorough hand luggage search on leaving KTM failed to find my stash. Phew. But then the army guy says: "Photograph?"<br /><br />"Yes", all smiles.<br /><br />"You are photograph businessman?" He's not smiling. Mmmmm mine was supposed to be an infectious one. <br /><br />"Oh no! No... tourist!" I laugh.Rob Dantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084266468696645818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7755987050280063885.post-28075069969169801892007-07-12T17:45:00.001+01:002007-07-12T17:45:34.310+01:00Going to prison, Tamghas styleYou watch Midnight Express and vow to be really careful of foreign prisions so I approached the idea with some trepidation when RB suggested I go to Tamghas prison to buy some nice stuff to take home. But It sounded interesting so we strolled through the gate and spoke to the guard.<br /><br />"Yeah, we just want to buy some stuff", he jumped up and brought us to the bars of the main door.<br /><br />He gets a cut of whatever the prisoners make in there and in turn helps them get the materials inside.<br /><br />I look through the bars and see smiling prisoners, men and women together at weaving looms and carpentry benches working away. One particularly rough looking guy come up to the gates looking like he's going to grab one of us as a hostage... then he pulls out some really nice woven rugs and offers then through the bars for us to take a look.<br /><br />very trusting.... but I suppose the guard will stop us running off with the goods and we'd end up inside with him for theft... which would be a bad idea. Interesting court case though, shoplifting from a prison. I buy something, and haggle the price down - he's not going anywhere - it's beautifully woven.Rob Dantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084266468696645818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7755987050280063885.post-49433823874457082812007-07-12T17:43:00.001+01:002007-07-12T17:43:54.817+01:00language problems and the god of fig tree"Which god is this temple for?" I asked Asok.<br /><br />"Manakamana, the god of big tree"<br /><br />"Big tree?" I said.<br /><br />"Oh thats nice." said Rob B, old hippy.<br /><br />"No, no, fig tree." replied Asok.<br /><br />"Fig trees?' I said.<br /><br />"No'" Asok laughed, "Vic-tory, Manakamana is god of victory".Rob Dantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084266468696645818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7755987050280063885.post-9576939875394314382007-07-12T17:38:00.000+01:002007-07-12T17:42:37.042+01:00Snapshots of travel dayIt's 5.30pm and we are at last averaging more than 5km/h as we climb out of the kathmandu valley. We set off an hour ago. In my mouth is a hard cube of churpi. Smoked Yak cheese with the texture of plastic. I've been told it will melt. It is disintegrating very slowly. It doesn't taste of much except the slight smokiness... it's not especially cheesy. The road is a long slow snake of traffic winding upwards, the pollution and dust is terrible but the heat means having the windows open.<br /><br />With us is Kamela, a girl with an amazing singing voice who lost both arms and a leg when she flew a kite into a powerline. She has been fitted with prosthetic arms and a leg. Her sister Sangeeta is with us too. They are really excited to be travelling, as neither has been out of Kathmandu before. <br /><br />7.30pm<br />We're going along a bit faster now, about 20km/h overtaking highly decorated loorries on hairpin bends. My bum is numb, it's getting dark and I have a cube of churpi in each cheek. Sangeeta bought it in the market and thinks it's funny that I appear to like it, so she keeps offering it to me.<br /><br />8.30pm <br />We stop at a roadside shack. Kamela and her sister stay in the van despite my trying to tempt them out. Asoka doesn't seem bothered. <br /><br />"Do you like fish?" says Asoka.<br /><br />We sit down and to my great relief he orders three bottles of beer. Carlsberg, brewed in Kathmandu. A plate of fried fish arrives, heads, bones and all, like whitebait but kind of goldfish sized.<br /><br />"How do you eat these?" I said stupidly.<br /><br />"I'll teach you..."<br /><br />Asoka very slowly picked up a fish between his fingers and very deliberately put the head in his mouth, bit it off and chewed it. Then he started laughing.<br /><br />It was silly question.<br /><br />The fish were nice enough but even Asoka and Praladh left the one with the really big eyes staring up at us. Prawns were good, eaten in the same style, all shell and head. <br /><br />I think Kamela is embarrassed to come out, she looks normal because of the prosthetics but of course she can't use the rubbery fingers to eat. I wish there is something I could do.<br /><br />11.00pm<br />Six and a half hours after leaving KTM... Another roadside shack. <br /><br />"We no time for dinner at hotel when we get to Butwal," says Asoka.<br /><br />We sit down again: me Praladh, Asoka and Sangeeta... again Kamela stays in the van. She hasn't taken a piss since 4pm either, I can see it must be awkward.<br /><br />We sit down to eat and plates of food arrive: dhal, rice, vegetable curry, green vegetable, and a dish of lumps of something meaty.<br /><br />I'm offered a spoon but try eating like everyone else, with my hand. My technique causes much laughter. I tend to tilt my head back and drop the food in, eating like a baby bird, they say.<br /><br />I try a lump of meat. it's liver. It's full of gristle too. I pick another bit attached to bone... instantly the texture feels wrong, rubbery, spongy, like lung or something. I discreetly spit it out.<br /><br />12.00am we speed past Lumbini, birthplace of Gautama Buddha. asok and the driver are sneezing and coughing up lumps of something they spit out the window.<br /><br />Streets are quiet.<br /><br />12.44am<br />Arrive at the kandala Hotel, Butwal. On the floor of the lobby a man is sleeping next to some burning incense. It's basic. At first it looks like I will be sharing with Asok as there are not enough rooms... luckily he goes off to find another hotel. I like him and everything but I really need my own time here. I open the door to the bathroom and get hit with the stench of sewage. I have a cold shower, roll up a little one and go to sleep.Rob Dantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084266468696645818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7755987050280063885.post-26842498648804308302007-07-03T14:26:00.000+01:002007-07-03T14:28:31.635+01:00KathmanduDidn't feel too awake this morning thanks to the 22 hours travel time from the UK to Kathmandu.<br /><br />After washing down a breakfast of parathas and sambal with loads of juice and coffee, I still didn't feel too special. Jetlag maybe, but I don't usually suffer from it at all.<br /><br />The guest relations manager started giving me the spanish inquisition as I waited in the lobby, she was asking too many questions so I lied and told her I was on holiday, like my visa says, meeting friends in Nepal. Then going on to Bangladesh with my big tripod to do some work. <br /><br />"what are you going to do while you're here?"<br /><br />"Oh y'know... see people."<br /><br />"What? You mean casually?" She sounded surprised that a sex tourist would be so honest. I blushed when I realised what she thought I'd meant.<br /><br />"No, no... see people, people I already know, who live in Kathmandu."<br /><br />S showed up and off we went to his office which is also the home he shares with extended family. His father is 96 and the mother looks 30 years younger but is 89. Nice people.<br /><br />The garden is filled with reflective solar cookers of different designs and briquette making equipment, presses and drying racks.<br /><br />S is lovely and shows me around, explaining his mission to make Nepalese people self sufficient in energy and not dependent on LPG and kerosene.<br /><br />One of the solar cookers has a clear lid and some sweaty looking chicken kebabs in it (it's not very sunny). When S explains that's lunch, I start to work out if I'll still be sick for the 10 hour road trip on Saturday. I'm sure it's fine and I'm being old fashioned but I'm not sure about eating chicken that's never been near a flame...<br /><br />He fires up a briquette stove, it turns out the chicken was just pre cooking in the solar box, my stomach relaxes as the chicken lands in hot oil and sizzles.<br /><br />It's delicious.<br /><br />I was warned this guy wanted to show me a powerpoint thing and the dreaded moment came after lunch. He left the room and I made a call to the managing agents of my block of flats where the tenants have been without gas for three days. It crosses my mind to offer to bring them back a stove next time the girl calls... on second thoughts... no.<br /><br />A taxi took us around KTM to film rubbish dumped at the side of the road. The highlight was a big pile of cow legs by the river. No hassle from the authorities. As S said, the politicians are too busy with politics to do anything else, I reassured him it was the same elsewhere too. Thank God.<br /><br />Back at the hotel to do some more phone calls about the flat... it only happens when I'm away. Last time it was a blocked toilet and I was under a mosquito net in a hut somewhere in Sri Lanka.<br /><br />I'm not a worrier... but since a friend caught cerebral malaria on one of these trips and ended up nearly dying in the London Hospital for Tropical Medicine, I've been careful to take anti-malaria tablets. I thought I had loads left, so I didn't bother going to see the travel clinic this time. I have about 8 one a day tablets and a 14 day trip. I need a strategy.<br /><br />I could wait to see if I get malaria then blitz it with 4 pills a day for two days, but instead I think I'll do a risk assessment as I go and take them when I'll need them most. It's OK in the city, I'm sure. But tomorrow we're driving out of town to a leper colony so I just know I'm going to feel itchy on the way back.Rob Dantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084266468696645818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7755987050280063885.post-60409653963931447482007-07-02T05:36:00.000+01:002007-07-02T07:17:49.715+01:00Security AlertsI arrived early at an airport surrounded by hastily erected concrete blocks. Thye always do this, shut the stable door after the horse is long gone.<br /><br />I faced my usual problem, that my one piece of hand luggage - the camera bag - is too big. They started getting strict recently and I've even been made to try to fit it in the size measurer. It never quite fits and I always have to smile a lot.<br /><br />Since there was an attempted suicide bombing of an airport yesterday, and everyone is really following rules like it's going to save them... I will have to do a lot of smiling today before i walk on board with my laptop and camera gear.<br /><br />A woman with too much makeup from Qatar Airlines worked her way down the queue giving out the all important "cabin baggage" tags.<br /><br />"That looks heavy", she said, "If it's more than 7 kg then you'll have to check it in." <br /><br />I smiled at her.<br /><br />"But you don't have much other luggage... Hmmmm... when you get to the counter, see how much it all weighs." She wasn't going to make the decision.<br /><br />I practised smiling at a few random people as I waited. Airline people don't get many smiles. Especially on days like this. I'm on a roll, the woman taxi driver refused to take any money from me this afternoon too, because I was "nice". I never had that happen before.<br /><br />Soon a guy from the airline comes up and ushers me over to the first class check in. Sadly not an upgrade, but a queue jump, at least. Obviously, the first class check in guy didn't even look at my hand luggage except to see where to put the tag :)<br /><br />Upstairs, the impact of extra security is clear. It takes an hour to get through passport control. They are x-raying shoes and belts, checking laptops and limiting liquids.<br /><br />I queued at the forex counter to buy dollars and a guy pushed in.... just came and stood in front of me. He looked like an arrogant fucker too, dressed like a banker on holiday. Fat arse squeezed into some chinos and a pair of loafers that have only ever seen tarmac or marble. Open necked short sleeved shirt with a button down collar. Of course.<br /><br />When the people in front of him finished, I just stepped in front of him and took my rightful place at the counter.<br /><br />"Hi", I smiled at the woman.<br /><br />He was too shocked to say anything, but could hardly complain.<br /><br />I bought 400 USD, I know I'll need at least 300 to hire a 4x4 in Nepal, I now have a 10 hour drive from Kathmandu to this Tamghas/Gulmi place, rather than the internal flight. I'm not sure which is statistically safer, but I'm guessing it's the plane, probably not such fun though. If I pay for the hotels with my card, that should be OK. I don't want any USD left over.<br /><br />Within minutes, I had food and I'd logged right into the middle of a muddy field on the last day of Secondfest. <br /><br />I waited till the screen said "boarding" before getting up to go, but it was lying. Another security alert meant one of the terminals was evacuated, apparently, and the crew were unable to get through.<br /><br />There are some honeymooners, I suppose because it's a Sunday in June, They have carefully thought out their coordinated "traveller" outfits. And have shiny new rings on their fingers.<br /><br />Take off was an hour late. It's really hot in the plane, unusually. Now it's 1.45am UK time and we're over Iraq. I should sleep the old guy next to me has had two cans of Heineken and is singing along to Hotel California. Next stop Doha, I should make the connecting flight, with a bit of luck.Rob Dantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084266468696645818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7755987050280063885.post-82526357452693345542007-07-01T16:39:00.000+01:002007-07-01T16:42:08.336+01:00On the RoadThis mad dash to the airport via the office to pick up camera gear is becoming a horrible habit. I write this on a sleepy Sunday train into central London. Two hours ago I left a restaurant on the south coast before everyone else had even started eating to drive flat out down the motorway. I made it home in 56 minutes - not bad considering the driving conditions. My speed bought me nearly half an hour at home before the taxi arrived to take me to the station. I had to pack the last bits of stuff and double check documents.<br />A taxi to the airport is impossible as last weeks botched terrorist attacks have prompted the usual chaos. No cars allowed to drop off or pick up at the airport. I'm trying to get there early as I remember last year's chaotic scenes after the exploding water/toothpaste/suncream/hairgel scare. I should have about half an hour in the office to repack the carry on bag with the camera, laptop and the absolute essentials. At least two of my flights are on those little planes that will no way take the bag in the overhead locker, so I'll just have to try to wing it.Rob Dantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084266468696645818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7755987050280063885.post-70151013314662880412007-06-25T09:32:00.000+01:002007-06-25T09:34:37.632+01:0013.36 from RL to SLThe 13.36 train from a town in Kent to Victoria is the unlikely vehicle taking me from one world to another. I'm going from my mum's art exhibition to SLUK 07 organised by Rivers Run Red.<br /><br />I'm still not used to blurring the line and here I am on a real train, on my way to meet people I usually only deal with in Second Life. <br /><br />In my hands are some photos that arrived this morning. Glossy prints on photographic paper of people and places that I have no other physical record of.<br /><br />In one picture I'm sitting on the ground next to a friend outside a modern house. There are palm trees in the distance and a cluster of reeds on the foreground. We're looking at each other, talking.<br /><br />Many of my friends in Second life would recognise the place straight away.<br /><br />Others are portraits of avatars that are important to me, or places with special meaning. One is a self portrait.<br /><br />The pictures are a snapshot of my second life. They would mean nothing even to my closest real life friends and family. <br /><br />They were an experiment, partly to see how the digital screenshots I've been taking for over a year look on photographic paper, but mainly I was interested in how it would feel to hold these things in my hands.<br /><br />I was surprised at the strength of feeling they evoked. The weirdest thing was that even though I've had pictures like this on my computer for over a year, they've always been separated out from my real life by their digital form. <br /><br />When the computer was off or I'm not sitting at it, the virtual world fades fast in the absence of physical reminders.<br /><br />Now I had these pictures in my hand in my hand.It felt like these images had crossed a great distance, like images from the surface of Mars. It felt like a line had been crossed.Rob Dantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084266468696645818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7755987050280063885.post-73247777238809434852007-06-20T07:18:00.000+01:002007-06-20T07:20:46.086+01:00Real Life6.42. I'm on a train on the way in. My eyelids feel like they've been open <i>way</i> too long in the last few days. Screen fatigue.<br /><br />Yesterday we delivered most of our material: 18 five-minute films plus 18 two- minute films and an 8 minute film for school kids about global warming.<br /><br />The scripts long ago lost their meaning, pulled around by committee. People who work in broadcast often assume that making films outside that world is easier. Give me someone who knows the medium and knows what they want any day instead of these idiots.<br /><br />The woman I've been working for throughout this is based a long way away. That would normally be a <i>good</i> thing. Every time we need an edit approved, we just upload it and send a link by email, right? <br /><br />The phone rings straight away....<br /><br />"Rob?", she whispers with a trace of panic, like something is my fault.<br /><br />"I'm having problems downloading this thing - it's not working?"<br /><br />"Well, what's it doing?"<br /><br />"This thing popped up.... it says transferring data or something... 63 megabytes...."<br /><br />"That's what it's supposed to do. It is downloading it."<br /><br />"How will I watch it?" <br /><br />She is head of a fucking media organisation in the 21st century.<br /><br />"Click on it, when it's finished." This is so lame.<br /><br />"Oh no, the other phone's going! Bye!"Rob Dantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084266468696645818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7755987050280063885.post-81557452348924812402007-06-18T13:34:00.000+01:002007-06-18T14:08:40.283+01:00Technosexual Geeks Run Wild<i>"the digital age has created a technosexual generation hooked on no-strings casual sex."</i><br /><br />I read this in a lamestream Sunday magazine <A href="http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,,2101234,00.html">article</A> at the weekend. <br /><br />Is there a generation that hasn't been hooked on casual sex, "technosexual" or not? It was a strapline dressed up as social analysis for Observer readers. To be fair to the writer, who probably had nothing to do with the headline, her article never really fulfils the promise of this lurid suggestion. I'm sure people do use the internet to arrange causal liasons (duh! and erm... learn how to make bombs and stuff). That's not really news. <br /><br />What is interesting to me is that, thanks to the technology, there might be a development in the opposite direction... The development of the postal service allowed, for the first time, people to have long distance relationships. Intense relationships of passion built on words and dreams. There is a romance in the language of love letters that you don't find in sms. With email and the death of distance, and more especially the development of avatars and virtual worlds that facilitate an oddly real physical closeness, could we see a a return of the victorian-style long and (relatively) chaste courtship?<br /><br /><i>"...how much can you truly learn about a person from a blog? A lot of the information on Facebook is superficial and guarded. The pictures tend to be either improbably flattering or deliberately obscured - along with the rest of what's posted, they represent a highly manipulated reality."</i><br /><br />The fact that our digital lives are largely anonymous and represent a "manipulated reality" is one thing, but then drinking six pints of lager before stumbling home with someone from the pub is manipulating reality too. I've asked around in Second Life, and I've of course, I've found people who've had real-life casual sex with people they've met as avatars. But there are even more who feel they are exploring a different kind of relationship through this medium. And it's often not as casual as you might expect.<br /><br />I know of people who've left their real lives to pursue a dream born in a digital world... happy endings? I don't know yet.<br /><br />There is anonymity online, but it provides a security that perhaps allows people to open up quicker and be more direct with strangers than is often the case in real life situations.Rob Dantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084266468696645818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7755987050280063885.post-20082169558187031792007-06-18T13:24:00.000+01:002007-06-18T13:34:27.758+01:00Time is the new SpaceThis blog is about where real and virtual lives meet and how they affect each other. Its been mostly focused on virtual life, so far. <br /><br />In recent days (weeks?) work has exploded into the anticipated badly managed shitstorm. With me in the role of chief cleaner. I haven't had much time to snatch from work to carry on with real life let alone to explore the virtual... it feels like going from having two lives to limping along with less than half of each. <br /><br />The whole process is damaging, long hours sitting down at a desk, drinking too much coffee.<br /><br />Before the web 2.0 thing really took off, Frances Cairncross wrote a book called The Death of Distance. A good friend of mine says "time is the space between us". They are both right. <br /><br />I believe time will be a much harder nut for the scientists to crack than distance was, but I'll be first to sign up for "MyTime" when it launches.Rob Dantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084266468696645818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7755987050280063885.post-36700558735457184222007-06-06T13:23:00.000+01:002007-06-08T09:18:17.402+01:00Second Life DreamsI have never had an especially hard head... I can get easily absorbed in alternate realities. Things that some people barely notice can be very real for me. Lucid dreams, visualizations... and that kind of thing. I need a tiny fraction of the dose of some of my friends when it comes to psychedelic drugs, I've had psychedelic expriences on nothing at all. That's probably why I get a lot out of SL and some of my RL friends don't. My head seems to meet the technology at least half way, and pulls powerful things (to me, at least) out of it. <br /><br />I've been living with my avatar now for a year and a half and one of the clearest effects I've noticed has been in my dreams. Its often said it's a dream-like world. Well it is and it isn't, but I clearly remember my first SL influenced dream. It didn't look like SL but it had the same feeling of wonder and community.<br /><br />Since then, dreams involving SL friends have become at least as regular as those with RL friends. A result of spending time where and forming emotional bonds I suppose, but these drerams aren't populated by avatars.<br /><br />I just know who the people are with that unquestionable knowledge you get in dreams. actual appearance is fluid, like any detail if you try to fix on it in a dream, but each one is a solid presence and I know for sure who they are in my dream (unlike SL). The dreams don't take place in the same places as my RL dreams, which are often set in familiar but distorted RL environments.<br /><br />The SL dreams happen in a world that's not quite like the real one real and yet it's not like SL either. <br /><br />I find it interesting that I don't ever dream that I'm sitting at a computer, logged into SL. I'm always totally in-world, it shows how immersive an environment it is, maybe, that the interface totally disappears when I dream of it. Experiences in SL get filed by the brain as part of my life just as normal RL incidents do. Another interesting point... I've had dreams with different friends from SL in them but never a mixed reality dream... so there is a clear separation somewhere in there, even though parts of my life blur the line.<br /><br />I think its like anything that stretches your experience I, it informs your dreams, gives you new ways of thinking and feeling which are manifested in dreams. In that respect, it's like an hallucinogenic drug. It opens you up to other ways of being and thinking and once that's done, you can't go back.Rob Dantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084266468696645818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7755987050280063885.post-91866349167317781662007-05-28T09:50:00.000+01:002007-05-28T11:28:27.832+01:00Exile - but not for longIt's right that the rhythms of Real Life dictate those of our Second Lives. Though there's a temptation to do it the other way around, I'm sure it's not quite healthy. Maybe it's only the same as cutting short a night out to make a phone call. But the immersive magic of SL means is doesn't compare very well to other forms of communication. You need to make time for it and it rewards you, but that time has to fit in around the demands of life itself. I think of SL and my friends there a lot when I'm not online. It made me think that the best way to make a film about Second Life would actually be not to shoot much in SL at all. Just a person in RL with a foot in another world.<br /><br />Part conference call, part opium dream, SL doesn't fit neatly into a category.<br /><br />Why am I thinking like this? I moved house in RL and that meant not just three days without contact with friends who I usually see almost every day, but three days without any internet access, and another three weeks before it's working at home - except if I contort myself and my laptop in one corner of one room and pray for the gods of unsecured networks to smile on me. Which they tend to :))Rob Dantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084266468696645818noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7755987050280063885.post-83888097649246664482007-05-23T20:10:00.000+01:002008-12-09T09:21:33.196+00:00Playing with a new effect<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9dkKAtVg_tJkpLZZCs3R8e2BdLQ0mlqlAJA5clcYZYui7dTIm_HxjJ6IUr4A0SkLuDKkImVzwYL3iWxNJamkqXXm33Msw4tI93HsBPtdIz5K8_EZJ3xZ-vVxP49ga5xfiPdGGsNoGEEA/s1600-h/A8+M8slarge.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9dkKAtVg_tJkpLZZCs3R8e2BdLQ0mlqlAJA5clcYZYui7dTIm_HxjJ6IUr4A0SkLuDKkImVzwYL3iWxNJamkqXXm33Msw4tI93HsBPtdIz5K8_EZJ3xZ-vVxP49ga5xfiPdGGsNoGEEA/s400/A8+M8slarge.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5068036288011376578" /></a><br />OK 12 hours and then some in the edit suite today... surely I could find a few minutes of render time for a new effect! Oh yes.<br />It might be in the video bar.... somewhere here ><br />But the quality is messed up... try this: http://deviantmedia.co.uk/altern8.mp4Rob Dantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084266468696645818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7755987050280063885.post-71096146332720126492007-05-22T13:45:00.000+01:002008-12-09T09:21:33.362+00:00Tea and biscuits at nephie's place<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7j2p_4HGpb4bIgr_PvjrTCqGPVYZjPJHG-4otnQQPpYhAuFoVxL2fb2sqqRQBUApfn031yexjO_XeqvBr3uSAiBMTevJcbkEhknK4w1RDYkYbSj8rAbRl8vMCd_6_z9SOzXFOfqcOf_I/s1600-h/neph_002.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7j2p_4HGpb4bIgr_PvjrTCqGPVYZjPJHG-4otnQQPpYhAuFoVxL2fb2sqqRQBUApfn031yexjO_XeqvBr3uSAiBMTevJcbkEhknK4w1RDYkYbSj8rAbRl8vMCd_6_z9SOzXFOfqcOf_I/s320/neph_002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5067380691318413218" /></a><br />Neph is the perfect housewife, she loves her little cottage with the white fence, roses around the door... and she is so fussy about tablecloths.... oh sorry... did I get the wrong Neph. This one is cool.Rob Dantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084266468696645818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7755987050280063885.post-70034075461570173432007-05-21T09:06:00.000+01:002007-05-22T14:44:08.667+01:00Once more, with feeling...It was a ridiculous sight - the generic avatars jumping on each other using crude animations approximating sex.<br /><br />"Hahaha! It looks so stupid! I could never be jealous if my husband was doing this!" Said the woman sitting next to me.<br /><br />She was director I was working with on a short SL movie. She was new to virtual worlds and this is as far as many people get. <br /><br />Part of the movie meant our hero (who we see in Real Life and in SL) meets a girl avatar (we never see her in RL) in second life and falls for her. They had met already in SL a few times before shooting began and got on quite well. I know he was intrigued about who she really was.<br /><br />We laughed about the embrace between them between that would come at the end of our film.<br /><br />But when it came to it and they embraced, a weird thing happened, the guy in RL sitting at a laptop across from me, really felt something, it was obvious. I was fliming it in SL of course, and it was an uncomfortable moment.<br /><br />I wasn't sure what to expect when these two people touched virtually. But it proved to me that this is something that others can feel too. <br /><br />I have been really shaken by how much we can feel through this medium. I have felt the touch on my skin of fingers a thousand kilometres away, I've had the oddest synchronisations. The kind that happen rarely in RL seem more frequent here. I can't explain that. Except that it means something.<br /><br />This wasn't what I was expecting from a world coded in cold ones and zeroes, from the concept, it didn't seem like a place where the human spirit should, or could, flourish.<br /><br />But I came and explored and I have stayed. I've seen such incredible creativity here and felt the love of people who share only imagination and a vision. It's not for everyon and maybe even most of the residents don't fully realise the impact of this technology on humans. <br /><br />I think it's about play in it's purest form. It's making mud pies in the garden. It's dressing up. It's making camps. It's exploring. It's lego. It's for grownups who won't let go of the eyes and imagination of their childhood.<br /><br />In SL there's no goal, so there's a vacuum and the most amazing stuff pops out of people to fill it.<br /><br />According to Marshall McLuhan - the visionary who came up with the term "global village" - we should look at technologies that extend us and ask, what do they extend? The telephone extends our voice, TV extends our vision... what do virtual worlds extend, I wonder? The self? (is there such a thing?) I know it's some big part of us. I feel it.<br /><br />He also says we should not forget that when something is extended, something else is lost. From my experience, it's time. Not lost perhaps, but converted from potential to memories. I have some very precious ones from Second Life, from laughing so much that my stomach hurts and exploring this new world with some of the funniest, smartest and most thoughtful people I've never met.Rob Dantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084266468696645818noreply@blogger.com5