Part 5 of Play Money talks about Gold Farmers. I thought the part about Bob explaining to Dibbell how a person could potentailly cheat the system and get lots of gold quickly without doing any work was interesting. By setting up all the computers and making them run the copy of UO and obtain gold for him is a very smart concept. In my view I believe that this is cheating, because no work is being done and everything is being obtained. Even though I think this is cheating I can't help but be impressed by what was done to make all the computers work the way in which it did.
Later Dibbell went sraight to the source and asked the operator of all these computers, Rich, to see how he did it. Rich said that bots control the charcters for him. But there are also things such GMs that try and look for these bots to kick them out of the system. Some ways they do this is by going up to a character they think is a bot and asking it what color a stick is that they hold up in front of them. If it is a bot they cannot think for themselves and anwser the question correctly. One way that Rich got around this was by making the bots Im him or text him when a GM sowed up. This idea seemed crazy to me. It seemed as if his cheating plan was fool-proof. Even though I still thought of this method as cheating I had to give ich credit for being able to think of a plan to run against the GMs. If someone was smart enough to think of all the loop-holes and cover them, I suppose they deserved to be able to cheat the system.
Later on Rich got tohether with Lee and for a time it seemed as if their parternership worked well together, but unfornatley it later crashed when they thought that they were lying to each other. The gloves were off and they were now at war.
Part Six talks about Dibbell's thousand dollar's and a dream. His goal was to make a thousand dollars by the time that his wife and daughter came back which was three weeks. His dream was to be able to make UPO and actual profession. He was able to make the thousand dollars and even a little extra. He wanted to tell the IRS that he job was selling UO goods as his primary source of income.
In part seven he talks about the IRS and he questioned how he would tell the IRS how much money he was making. He did not know how to report his income and was confused by the whole process of it. He wanted to do everything legally. The questions that he bring up were very interesting. I could not anwser any of them, without having more legal information. Overall, I like what Dibbell had to say about his whole experience so far in the book.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Monday, April 16, 2007
Play Money
At the begining of tis book I did not know what it would be about, but after reading a little of the first chapter I knew I would like it. It started out with the noob, which is a beginner at playing a game. I played online games before and everyone starts out as noobs, but once you get better at the game you get annoyed at noobs for being so stupid at the game. It's kind of ironic because everyone starts out as a noob yet no one else likes it. The idea of being able to get items that aren't real in a game, and sell it online at a site like eBay, for real money is a crazy concept. This was not the first time I have heard of this concept though. My brother plays online games as well and he tells me that he is able to sell some of the things he has in the game for a good amount of money online. He has never bought or sold any items for his profile, but it is out there for others to do if they wanted to. If I was playing a game online, I don't think I would buy things, but I am also not a fanatic at a game. I like the idea of getting money for things that are not real, but it seems like it would take a long time to do some of the things that is discussed. The idea of having spanish people playing the game for him is a good idea I suppose until he was caught and his operation was shut down. This idea was good at first but unfornately for him it did not work. The ideas in this book are very interesting. I wouldn't mind doing this for a living, but I would want to make sure I know exactly what I am doing, because it seems that this job could be risky. One problem with this profession would be my parents. I don't know how my parents would like me playing games for a living, but that's beside the facts.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
A Whole New MInd Chapters 8 and 9
Chapter 8's topic was play. The concept of laughter clubs was brought up in this chapter. At first, well, I thought the concept of this kind of funny. It seemed weird to me to have a laughter club, but I understand what Pink says about laughter being infectious. When other people around me start to laugh, I start to laugh as well even though I might not know what they were laughing at. It goes back to the concept of empathy in chapter 7.
I think that play is necessary in life. Poeple can not be serious all the time. There has to be time to relax and play so the stress of the workplace will not be overwhelming. One way that people can do this is by playing games. Pink says that games are actually not as bad as parents think for thier children. It can actually teach thier children lessons. Pink also says that games are not only for children, but that it can also be used for adults, and is good to get away from other things. I agree with him. People get into a routine every day, and do not change what they do. This can be boring eventually. Some change is needed.
At the end of the chapter in the portfolio, Pink suggests that we play more right-brain games. He also says to dissect a joke. This can be done to find a deeper comprehension of the joke. This can be important as well, to see why people laugh at certain things, and what people get enjoyment out of.
The next chapter talks about the topic meaning. In this chapter Pink talks about the spiritual side of life and religion. He tells us to take spirituality seriously. Religion could be very helpful in our lives and even for our health. He says that people who believe in religion lead healthier and calmer lives. I find him to be correct with this concept as well, at least for me. I like to think of myself as a pretty religious person. I pray quite often and go to church as well, but this does not necessarily mean that I am religious. I have a deeper understanding for my religion and actually take part in it, and I believe that it helps me and makes me calmer when doing so.
In the portfolio section of this chapter Pink raises the question: what would you do if you inherited $20 million dollars, or what would you do if yo found out that you had at most 10 years to live? If you whould change how you live then Pink says that you should think of how you live your life now. I thought this was interesting as well, because I think that if anyone received either one of those questions above they would change around his/her life somehow. I know I would, but it still did not change me from doing what I am doing now on a day to day basis.
I think that play is necessary in life. Poeple can not be serious all the time. There has to be time to relax and play so the stress of the workplace will not be overwhelming. One way that people can do this is by playing games. Pink says that games are actually not as bad as parents think for thier children. It can actually teach thier children lessons. Pink also says that games are not only for children, but that it can also be used for adults, and is good to get away from other things. I agree with him. People get into a routine every day, and do not change what they do. This can be boring eventually. Some change is needed.
At the end of the chapter in the portfolio, Pink suggests that we play more right-brain games. He also says to dissect a joke. This can be done to find a deeper comprehension of the joke. This can be important as well, to see why people laugh at certain things, and what people get enjoyment out of.
The next chapter talks about the topic meaning. In this chapter Pink talks about the spiritual side of life and religion. He tells us to take spirituality seriously. Religion could be very helpful in our lives and even for our health. He says that people who believe in religion lead healthier and calmer lives. I find him to be correct with this concept as well, at least for me. I like to think of myself as a pretty religious person. I pray quite often and go to church as well, but this does not necessarily mean that I am religious. I have a deeper understanding for my religion and actually take part in it, and I believe that it helps me and makes me calmer when doing so.
In the portfolio section of this chapter Pink raises the question: what would you do if you inherited $20 million dollars, or what would you do if yo found out that you had at most 10 years to live? If you whould change how you live then Pink says that you should think of how you live your life now. I thought this was interesting as well, because I think that if anyone received either one of those questions above they would change around his/her life somehow. I know I would, but it still did not change me from doing what I am doing now on a day to day basis.
Friday, March 30, 2007
A Whole New Mind
At this point in the book (up to chapter 7) I have learned many things about R-directed thinking. The things that Pink says in his book are interesting. I think of myself as a more R-directed thinker, becasue I was always into the arts and reading and writing, which is why I am in the English field. It is interseting how Pink beleives that the future will be composed of more R-directed thinkers.
I like what Pink does at the end of the chapters starting with chapter 4. He relates back to the chapter and tells how the reader can get involved with projects that will trigger their right side of the brain. I like what he says to do about the design chapter (4). I have done this to a small extent, where I start drawing things which I see that I like. I have also tried to re-invent items that annoy me, but I have found that this is harder than just drawing things that I like. This actually made me think more adn put me into a more creative mind frame, but sometimes I would think to creative and the idea seemed a little farfetched after I finished. But in the end I found it to be a good excercise.
Chapter 5 discusses storytelling, and that people remember stories better with visual effects and acting them out. I can relate to this as well because I try and read a lot. When a movie comes out that was from a book, I almost always like the book more, because when reading a book, it lets me be creaive with how I perceive the story. When watching a movie in is through the view of the people who made it. An example of this would be the Harry Potter books and movies. I enjoyed the books so much more than I did the movies. Althought the movies were fun to watch and they were enjoyable, I believe that there can be no substiture for the actual book. I like the activities that Pink suggested at the end of this chapter better, because I am more of a reader and writer than I am a drawer. The mini-sagas that he suggested was fun to do, but as I did them I found them too short and I always eneded p going back to them and wanting to add more and more to them.
Chapter 6 refers to symphony, which was an interesting chapter as well. Going throught school and all the papers I had to write I was taught to analyze a lot, but with the more crative courses that I am taking in college the more I get to be creative and synthesize my work.
The boundary crossers was also interseting to learn about. Being about to do multiple things is amazing. It makes a person more interseting to me and I believe that person to be smarter. I am learning spanish currently, and I am thinking of taking spanish as a minor. It helps a lot that I have many friends who are native spanish speakers, so I constantly hear it and it is incorporated in my everyday life. I would love to be bilingual, especially with more spanish spaeking people in the United States and all over the world.
Overall, I am enjoying this book, and look foward to finishing it and seeing what else PInk has to say, and what little projects he has for me to do.
I like what Pink does at the end of the chapters starting with chapter 4. He relates back to the chapter and tells how the reader can get involved with projects that will trigger their right side of the brain. I like what he says to do about the design chapter (4). I have done this to a small extent, where I start drawing things which I see that I like. I have also tried to re-invent items that annoy me, but I have found that this is harder than just drawing things that I like. This actually made me think more adn put me into a more creative mind frame, but sometimes I would think to creative and the idea seemed a little farfetched after I finished. But in the end I found it to be a good excercise.
Chapter 5 discusses storytelling, and that people remember stories better with visual effects and acting them out. I can relate to this as well because I try and read a lot. When a movie comes out that was from a book, I almost always like the book more, because when reading a book, it lets me be creaive with how I perceive the story. When watching a movie in is through the view of the people who made it. An example of this would be the Harry Potter books and movies. I enjoyed the books so much more than I did the movies. Althought the movies were fun to watch and they were enjoyable, I believe that there can be no substiture for the actual book. I like the activities that Pink suggested at the end of this chapter better, because I am more of a reader and writer than I am a drawer. The mini-sagas that he suggested was fun to do, but as I did them I found them too short and I always eneded p going back to them and wanting to add more and more to them.
Chapter 6 refers to symphony, which was an interesting chapter as well. Going throught school and all the papers I had to write I was taught to analyze a lot, but with the more crative courses that I am taking in college the more I get to be creative and synthesize my work.
The boundary crossers was also interseting to learn about. Being about to do multiple things is amazing. It makes a person more interseting to me and I believe that person to be smarter. I am learning spanish currently, and I am thinking of taking spanish as a minor. It helps a lot that I have many friends who are native spanish speakers, so I constantly hear it and it is incorporated in my everyday life. I would love to be bilingual, especially with more spanish spaeking people in the United States and all over the world.
Overall, I am enjoying this book, and look foward to finishing it and seeing what else PInk has to say, and what little projects he has for me to do.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Spring Break
Hey everyone. Just came back from srping break as did everyone else. I hope everyone had a good time, I know I did. I went to North Carolina with Habitat for Humanity and it was a great time. We also went to D.C. on our way there and back and the whole trip was an amazing experience. Just wanted to say hi to everyone and get back into the blogging slowly.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Snow Crash
As I continue to read Snow Crash it gets more and more intersting, and I anticpate what is to come. Now that the drug Snow Crash has come into play and Raven the book is complicated. Some parts of the book is confusing at parts, pt overall I understand it. It has many references to religion and the Bible, which I found interesting. I liked the fact that Stephenson brings history and actual information into the book and work it in, because it seems to be more real. The characters in the book make it interesting as well. At this point I just finished chapter 32 in the book when Y.T. gets the sample of Snow Crash. This is a very important part of the book because it lets them have the access to examine the virus and determine ways to come up with a possible anti-virus., which could end up helping Da5id. The fact that Da5id is in the hospital from the drug Snow Crash is weird because he got it through the Metraverse. Overall, I am halfway through the book and the climax is coming soon with everthing coming together. I am excited to see what happens with the rest of the book.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
NeoVox Article
For the NeoVox article I am choosing social networking as professor reid listed on Web-CT. I think that the websites such as myspace and facebook bring all different types of people together. As for facebook it is more of a college oriented website, but it is expanding. I like this because it helps me keep in touch with friends I might of not talked to and even leave small messages for people I see evryday in college. I have a myspace account as well, but this site is different because it can be used by anyone over the age of 13 and there are many potential stalkers on this site and poeple can easily lie about many things. I think that this would be a good topic because it relates to students like us and I'm sure many if not all college students between the ages of 17-23ish have facebook and a good amount would have mysoace as well.
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