Bonus Mission 2

Bonus Mission 2
Why is Second Life not a game?

The Sims and World of Warcraft both have the ability to create your own individual characters. Just like Second Life you are able to tailor the characters to your liking. Long or short hair, tall or thin, fat or skinny, Male or female, these games allow you to create a virtual image of your perceived self. You are able to create a totally new and cyber character which either resembles yourself or is totally the opposite.

In the real world you are unable to alter your appearances with a click of a button, or resurrect your dead character with a series of commands, in the real world if you get hit by a bus or a speeding train you are dead. However, in games like Second Life and The Sims you are basically immortal, the ‘superman’ of the virtual world. You are able to create that person you desire to be, you are able to be who you cannot be in the real world, you have created the ‘superman’ of yourself.

The distinction between the virtual and the real world has not much debate. The differences are there and it is very obvious for everyone to notice between a computer game and the real world. “The physical pain comes only from hitting a keyboard too hard, camaraderie is the norm and heroism is never far away” (Levy 2006).

How second life or other computer games be used more than just entertainment value. For one it functions as a social network that connects millions of users worldwide. It also enables the capitalist nature of the common individual to capitalize on the ventures of the virtual world. They set up virtual businesses and thus enable people who do not have any experience whatsoever a taste at starting up a business. It allows them to build their self confidence and also allow greater cohesion between other individuals. As figure show that Second Life uses has soared to 5 million users since it started up.

I say why people view Second life than more than a game is because that it brings out the real you. You can paint a false picture of yourself and you can do things that you cannot do in the real world. As Castronova (2005) said “There's a nascent politics. There's policy. There's speech and assembly. There's terror and reaction.” All similar to that of the real world, we cannot deny that these games are not making us who we really are.
References

Levy, S. (2006). World of Warcraft: Is it a game. Newsweek.

Castronova, E. (2005) "Synthetic Statehood and the right to assemble." , Date retrieved 6th April 2007.

QotW10: 2nd Death

Second life i think my features dont actually look a lot like me. But well its kinda a 20% fit dont you think?


This is the first place i travelled to and i found a damn cool dino statue and decided to take a pic in front of it. hahaha also cause i coundt teleport anywhere else!


Me just chilling around in an underswear shop... dont ask me why i was there but i couldnt buy anything cause i had no money whatever... donations are welcomed!

White hair is a symbol of the old wise owl. My avatar does not really resemble me that much, it was kinda a chore even to get him to look like that. Delaroche was a french assassin in one of the books that i read a million years ago and his character was portrayed as someone who was myterious and discreet, he never left a shadow when he walked. My myterious nature lead me to play the role in second life, and the clothing was designed by none other than me! not bad i have to say for someone who does not know how to sew.

QotW9: Step & Stomp

QotW9: Step & Stomp

?What is Citizen Journalism?
Citizen Journalism is the act of citizens "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information" ("Citizen Journalism", 2006). Everyone can be a citizen journalist; it is not just exclusive to certain members of the public. Citizen Journalism represents the voices of the public sphere which sometimes fails to catch the attention of the media. To be a Citizen Journalist I believe all you need is just free time, and a natural ‘kay poh’ attitude.

?Stomp ideal form of Citizen Journalism in Singapore?
STOMP with stands for ‘Straits Times Online Mobile Print’ integrates content and activities in the three platforms of print, online and mobile. It delivers content which helps develop new communities of local Singaporean that bond together with similar interests.
It is a great way to offer the community better and deeper coverage than is possible with a lone professional reporter. It creates vigilance among the public and also acts as a social interaction tool, as news is captured and compiled on a website where various members of the pubic are able to view. As Singapore’s culture differs differently from the western cultures where Singaporeans tend to be more old fashioned and conservative, Citizen journalism in Singapore just might be classified an invasion of privacy.
A car crash, illegal parking, couples fighting in the open, public displays of affections (PDA) or even a cat stuck in a tree, these are all different kinds of news but often professional journalist do not always capture it. Professional journalist have to pick their news smartly as not everyone is Singapore would like to see PDA, or a cat stuck in a tree. They want ratings and all this trivial news would not get the ratings they desire. It shows you everything and anything that the other media companies fail to capture.
However, not all the news captured Citizen Journalist is made public. Often political and sexual content will be filtered and left out. Whether or not it is ideal for Singapore remains in the voices of the public eyes, what they intend to use it for and the purpose. Citizen journalism isn't one simple concept that can be applied universally by all news organizations (Outing 2005). I for one believe that news should remain objective without any interference from anyone.

Improvements to be made
Apart from its multi colored and much confusing website with dozens of link and pictures that splash into your face when you go to the website, STOMP Singapore has really made a huge impact on Singaporeans. As news stories are not just covered by the media, but by every single person that walks the earth (Unless your brain dead). STOMP should show the democratic Singapore by not filtering lucid and political comments but allow a free flow of information to pass through, this would truly enable Citizen Journalism in Singapore to take a new leap for our future.

References
“Citizen Journalism” (March 28, 2006) From Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, Retrieved March 29, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_journalism

Outing, S. (2005) "The 11 Layers of Citizen Journalism."
Retrieved March 30, 2007 from http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=83126

STOMP. Retrieved on March 30, 2007 from http://www.stomp.com.sg/

Com125 QotW7: Online Tweet

Com125 QotW7: Online Tweet

Online virtual communities are where people interact with each other virtually without any physical contact. The internet has flourish and the online community has been growing bigger and bigger every single day. Cooley (1983) says that all normal humans have a natural affinity for community. That is the main reason why people tend to be affiliated to online communities. A sense of belonging as the collective culture of the modern day individual tends to be driven by group economics. Strength in numbers as the Romans would call it. Wellman and Gulia (1996) said that a community is “more than the sum of a set of ties” meaning that it not only connects but it also affects.
Like Friendster, Facebook and Wholivesnearyou.com, Twitter is another form of the online community which has recently just sprung up. On signing up I found out that most of the online communities have something in common. Each of them allows you to have a ‘friends’ database and from there you can view your friend’s friends thus making it a global networking community. Twitter is a new improved version of the modern day friendster and facebook, where users are able to log on and actually engage in a conversion via a forum where your actions and shoutouts are recorded for everyone to read and respond. Twitter is not doubt an online community as it brings various individuals together for a common purpose, social networking.
People who have signed up tend to spend most of their time online, chatting and making new friends, finding love and setting up relationships. Their involvement in these on-line relationships, turn them away from real-life relationships with family and friends (Hiltz and Turoff 1993). They lose the physical interaction of meeting people as most of their communication is via the computer. Twitter I find is more like a virtual bridge between 2 individuals, not only can it function like any other social network website but they are able to provide real-time updates of tag boards which are then sent to your mobile phone. A more refined version of the old websites, Twitter truly has come a long way and proved to be more than just an online community but an online nanny. Where friends are able to monitor postings at the click of a mouse.

References
Cooley, C. H. (1983). Social Organization: A Study of the Larger Mind. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.
Virtual Community. (2007). In Wikipedia: the free encyclopedia. Retrieved March 15, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Virtual_community&diff=115277136&oldid=115277042
Wellman, B. & Gulia, M. (1996). Net Surfers Don’t Ride Alone. Retrieved March 15, 2007, from http://www.acm.org/~ccp/references/wellman/wellman.html
title=Reputation_management&diff=113442073&oldid=111797891
Hiltz, Starr Roxanne, Kenneth Johnson and Murray Turoff. 1986. "Experiments in Group Decision Making: Communication Process and Outcome in Face-to-face Versus Computerized Conferences." Human Communication Research 13 (2): 225-252.

COM 125 QotW6: Privacy

“The right to be let alone – the most comprehensive of rights and the most valued by civilized men.” – Louis D. Brandeis

Most people who use the Internet have little idea how vulnerable they are to abuse by online and offline marketers and how the information they provide can be used to exploit them. Citizens in a risk society can no longer rely on tradition or fixed hierarchies to establish their identity or to give them reliable guidance about whom to trust in a society of strangers (Giddens 1998).
From my exposure to the virtual world outside, I am able to be who I want to be not always who I am. When signing up for free email accounts & free trial software, I am always asked for personal information like date of birth, gender, age and home contact information. You also never know who is listening to your conversations online, what may seem as an innocent conversation between friends, turn into a national security issue, as the person spying on your conversation mistook you literally when you said that you were bombing the mall, but merely taking a huge shit in the toilet.
Being a rather secretive person, people do know get to know me online. I do not post personal emotions or any personal data on my social network websites or webblogs. Internet is allowing strangers to observe us even as we observe them (Rosen 2004). I believe that my online identity should be kept private to all unless I decide otherwise. But how many people out there actually respect your privacy? In schools, buses, shopping malls and even parks, cameras watch you’re every move. Some say it increases the security but how much till they go overboard? A recent survey in London shows that the streets of downtown London has one camera per square block.
Juggling Offline and Online privacy is really no easy task. With social blogs and social chat rooms springing up all over are we still able to protect ourselves from the watchful eyes of people. Online, the issue of privacy has become so prevalent that the use of anonymity and pseudonymity have become a need to ensure one's privacy in the online community.
When in the office your privacy might be invaded. Bosses often spies on their employees by using a remote program which allows then to capture whatever is on the employees screen. Even in school the lecturer is able to capture your screen shot and project it for the whole class to see, which I was caught for once.
In conclusion privacy is objective; it varies from place to place and from country to county. Different peoples tolerance to being surveyed and watched changes as more cameras are put into the streets. Who knows as the world evolves and changes we might start to find cameras in our own bathroom. Privacy is just to be left alone (Sullivan, 2006).


References

Rosen, J. (2004). The Naked Crowd: Reclaiming Security and Freedom in an Anxious Age, Random House.

Joseph T., Lauren F., and Kimberly M.(2005). Open to Exploitation: American Shoppers Online and Offline.

Conversations with Anthony Giddens: Making Sense of Modernity, Anthony Giddens and Christopher Pierson, Stanford University Press, 1998, p101

Sullivan, B. (17th October, 2006). "Privacy Lost: Does Anyone Care?". Retrieved on 8th March, 2007 from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15221095/print/1/displaymode/1098/

Council Elections

President of Students Council Elections

My write up as follows:
"I am interested in the position of President of student’s council. I understand that this is an extremely demanding position but I am confident that I possess the necessary qualities for the role.
Having served as a prefect for four years in secondary school, holding leadership positions is not new to me. I fully understand what is required of me; the trials and tribulations that one would go through. I believe that being President of the student’s council takes much more than leadership capabilities and academic attributes. They must possess morals, intellect, social abilities and a good presentation of oneself, all of which I pride myself in.
Being a sportsman, I have acquired several positive attributes such as discipline and how to deal with failure. Confucius once said, “Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall”. Subscribing to that quote, I firmly believe that we should not be deterred by setbacks or obstacles. Instead, it is important that we take things in our stride and rise to each occasion.
Since I was enrolled between the first and second intake, I have made friends in both senior and junior batches. This would serve to my advantage as I feel that I will be able to serve not only as a bridge between the current two batches, but in promoting cohesion and camaraderie, will be able to lay the groundwork for future intakes.
I have decided to apply for the role of President as I am deeply drawn by challenges and I believe that I will be able to bring about change. In my Poly days, I missed out on several opportunities in taking up leadership positions and found that I missed being involved in school. Being in the council will also help me foster a sense of belonging to the University of Buffalo.
What I hope to achieve in serving my term of Presidency would be to foster a sense of bonding and communication. Gone would be the days when students would just attend lectures and go home. I hope to do this by encouraging more inter-faculty games and other activities they can participate in. The starting of the UB-SIM soccer team was the first step taken by my fellow classmate and from there I hope to give them my full support in fostering greater ties between faculties. Additionally, I would like to get more involved on a more personal level by facilitating communication through feedback. In such a way, I will be able to serve as a conduit between the council and student body.
In conclusion I believe that my attributes would serve to my utmost advantage in taking on the demanding position of President."
“Only a life lived in the service to others is worth living.” – Albert Einstein

Voting will be out on www.ubsim.org sometime next week so do show your support and vote for me. Your lives wont be the same.... for real man!!! power to the people!!!

QotW5: Identity Theft

“The worst of all deceptions is self-deceptions.” – Plato, Cratylus, 4th B.C.

“Mikey I am going to shower now you can use my computer I left it on.” Sarah said as she walked into the bathroom. Mike immediately logged onto his girlfriends msn and started snooping around her facebook account. While snooping around one of Sarah’s friend which just happened to be her ex-boyfriend messaged her online.

“Sarah? Are you there.” the words came flashing onto the screen.
Mike being the overprotective and suspicious boyfriend wanted to find out who this guy was. He decided to play along and replied.

“Yeah, I am here, just came out of the shower.”

I bet we all did that once in our lifetime. Our curiosity and suspicious nature tends to get the better of us. So is that considered identity theft? Although an innocent gesture on Mikey part he could be in the long run out to steal or impersonate other people and use their identities for personal gain.
Apparently not as identity theft is the misuse of the identity (such as the name, date of birth, current address or previous addresses) of another person without their knowledge or consent. Obtaining someone’s personal details is not a criminal offence, nor is creating fake utility bills or bank statements that can be used to prove you are that person. An offence is only committed when someone attempts to use the stolen identity to obtain goods or services.

As the world moves into the information age and into the cashless society, where one can pay their groceries with the click of the mouse and transfer funds to a bank located 10,000 miles away. One of the biggest problems we are facing today is online theft. People who misuse of abuse the system and impersonate someone else in order to obtain goods or services. A particularly costly form of identity deception is impersonation. If I can pass as you, I can wreck havoc on your reputation, either on-line or off (Donath, 1996).

E-bay is considered as an online economy where goods and services are being sold and traded online. On this website hackers are able to intercept monetary transactions and goods that are being sold by hacking into the user’s account assuming their identity and reputation, thus enabling them to purchase the goods using the assumed identity. I personally had my e-bay account hacked into and the person used my reputation as a quality and serious buyer to purchase stuff I had not ordered. The stuff was shipped to my address and payment was billed to my card. A person who is invested in a community through a membership system is one less likely to abuse the community (John, 1996)

Apart from online communities and economies like e-bay and amazon, the gamming world also is affected. Unlike online economies where identity assumed is important, the online gamming community assumes reputation as the key. Online games like Warcraft, Diablo, Counter-strike and Poker require not only passwords and user ids to enter but certain servers also require a certain level of reputation before you are able to play on it.

Let us take for example Poker.net, is an online gambling website where users from around the world are allowed to play poker as well as interact with each other. They are each given nicknames which they use at different play rooms. Reputation established from their nicknames or userid then enables the player to enter tournaments without even having met anyone.
How someone else could possibly assume this identity online is rather simple. They either gain access to your userid or passwords and simply just log into your account or a more complex process of hacking into your computer system to steal vital information. Many individual identity deceptions are acts of omission, rather than commission; they involve hiding one's identity (Donath, 1996)

Therefore i conclude that there is really no fullproff method to prevent or stop online identity thefts but there are ways to reduce the people affected. As people will always find the ways and means to beat the system. Be it for fun or monetary gain there always would be someone out there to who will create trouble.

References
Donath, J. (1996). Identity and Deception in the Virtual Community. Retrieved February 20, 2007, from http://smg.media.mit.edu/people/Judith/Identity/IdentityDeception.html

J. Adams and G Jayne. (1998) “Causes and implications of disinhibited behavior on the Internet,” Psychology and the Internet: Intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transpersonal implications, Academic Press, Inc., pp. 43-60.

Oxford Analytica (2007) Hooked on Phishing. Retrieved February 20, 2007, from http://www.forbes.com/business/2005/04/29/cz_0429oxan_identitytheft.html

“Amilgate” (2007, Jan 15). Online Identity. Retrieved February 21, 2007, from Identity and Deception in the Wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Online_identity&diff=108207999&oldid=106705378

Grohol, J. M. (1996) "Anonymity and Online Community: Identity Matters."