Second Life Experience

I had never been on Second Life so this experience was my first time.  It was a lot of fun, though at times VERY frustrating.  Everything was pretty well organized, however, I would find myself clicking buttons and then not being able to find my way back.  For example, I took my shirt off to see what would happen.  Naturally, my shirt came off, but unnaturally, I couldn’t just put it right back on.  Well, I could, but I didn’t know how to do it.  I spent too much time trying to figure out how to do it, but what was so funny is that I was embarrassed to see others without my shirt on.  As if it actually mattered.  LOL

I took my places I visited from the SL visit list.  I went to resonating with second life, this is where the windmill turbans are in space and the wind makes them resonate with different tones.  Very cool!  Then I went to BonnyDoon, which was a beautiful garden.  I enjoyed looking at the exquisite plants and stone statues.  I followed a waterfall and river to find a secret garden with drums, that yes I played wonderfully.  I like the interactive features of being able to touch things, sit down, see closer, etc.  I did have some trouble editing my appearance and a lot of trouble with flying.  How the hell do you control flying?  I always got out of control and ended up flying off the island and off into nowhere and then second life would disconnect me.  This is what happened far too often when I was at my third location Cyber punk city.  I just kept flying off the island because it was difficult to get around on foot.  Overall, it was very fun and cool.

Networked collaboration Affecting government operations

I find wikileak to be an interesting example of networked collaboration within our government because it hurts the government as well as helps it.  Obviously, the government is being exposed for unethical behavior, but this exposure also leads to the fixing of the problems and corrupt behavior.  It not only keeps citizens informed of crooked activities, but this network also keeps people within the company or department informed.  Since the data is collaborated through many different people, it all has the opportunity to feed into the chain of events.  For example, one scandal might be the root of another scandal.  The second one occurs because of the first one.  Through a site like this, you are more able to learn about more than one event. These events might be leading to a similar or directly related outcome.  This can either hurt or help the government, depending on what actions are taken by the now informed citizens and officials.

Blogging on Wikipedia

It seems my new wikipedia post didn’t work out very well.  I was trying to get an overall outcome before I posted.  My wikipedia entry was new and had to do with a friends band who has a large following and is signed to a label, but wikipedia is somewhat strict on band entries due to their inconsistent nature.  I may appeal again and try later, and I’ll post then if it works out.

Virtual Learning Environment

It is amazing what the virtual teaching environment is capable of doing to enrich the learning experience.  It not only allows for thoughts and ideas to be transported globally through words and paragraphs, but it allows for emotions, thoughts, expressions, and experience to be exchanged through music, videos, and images.  A classroom environment can capture this only to the extent of the classroom walls.  A virtual teaching environment involves people from all over the world to share interests, ideas, and experiences.  Through this diversity, students learn about the topic of discussion and also about different cultures, value systems, and how things are viewed differently.  It even increases collaboration through generations, allowing those who might not be able to get to the school during classroom hours, to share their information and experiences.
Through a virtual environment, students and teachers are able to share an abundance of resources that would not be available in the classroom.  They can easily sample and transport different resources.  All the information is relatively up to date compared to the average textbook that takes a year and a half to get published.

Networked Collaboration affecting business environments

Networked collaboration has enabled businesses and industries to reach global audiences as well as people who might not have even been apart of the audience.  The internet and networked collaboration have allowed people and products to connect through ‘six degrees of separation’.  Someone knowing someone or being interested in something, creates a network of communication referring the other party to the other person or product.  Businesses can reach masses of people through one initial person or page.
The environment and exchange are affected through the simple idea of, how do we communicate when the audiences are so diverse?  We talk to our mothers in a different way than we talk to our best friends.  This is also true for business relationships.  As a manger, you speak differently to your boss than you do to your subordinates.  Not only must a certain level of caution be used when distributing a mass e-mail, but a degree of language awareness must be observed when considering who you are speaking to in individual e-mails.
Another factor to consider when looking at how the business environment and communication exchange is affected through networked collaboration is looking at the cost.  It is VERY low.  It can almost serve as free advertising and marketing.  WOM (Word of Mouth) is the most effective way to build your customer database.  Networked collaboration is WOM at its best.

Video meeting via Skype….sort of

Jenn and I were able to “communicate” today via Skype. Unfortunately Skype didn’t recognize my webcam. I was able to see and hear Jenn but she couldn’t see or hear me. My laptop doesn’t have a built in mic either. With that said, we were able to communicate via the chat feature.  Here’s the screenshot from our meeting.

Social Exchange through networked space

MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube are all phenomenons because of the way they allow users to share information.  They allow people to cross over space and reach out to one another.  People who normally wouldn’t be able to reach another can now easily do this.  They also allow users to network over the site for their own purpose.  They can use their own personal space for connecting with family, meeting friends and companions, conducting business, or just sharing information to those who will take the time to read it.
The social exchange is affected because tonal inflections are absent, and a phrase that was intended for a certain audience might read differently to another audience.  Though lots of information is released through these pages, much is omitted as well.  (From the writer’s point of view.)  Many of us are not blessed with a writer’s hand to sufficiently express ourselves through writing.  Another way the social exchange is affected is by the language we have adapted to use online, in texts, and so on and so forth.  We speak (write) differently and find ourselves not saying as much as if we were in an actual verbal conversation.  Twitter is a perfect example of this.