Gerore+Teskat+the+blog

A great picture of the grid from Wikipedia showing the land in SL My research paper

1/28/08 Though I haven't spent much time in SL I thought that an entry that had to do with what I've found while reading about SL would be okay. While I was reading I found out that Jay-Z actually gave a virtual concert in SL at the exact time that he gave one in FL. Which makes me wonder two things: Do celebrities just pay people to put their music on SL, and if so what does this mean for independent musicians? We spoke last class about Radiohead's release of //In Rainbows// and what effects it has as a model for future musical artists and that made me look for this idea in SL. It turns out that there is actually a band that came together in SL and tours the Grid giving concerts. Does that mean that SL may be the future of independent music and film? I know some people have talked about the existence of TV channels in SL but I think that it may be possible that there could one day be movie theaters and concert halls, possibly even plays in SL. And what would this mean, could some kid go into a theater and tape a movie and post it up in a virtual theater in SL and charge admission? Being a pirate myself I'm not initially against it, but then again I don't try to make profit off of someone elses work, I just try to help people appropriate hard to find objects. I can just imagine that there will one day be an artist who instead of giving a concert in FL sells tickets to one in SL for half the price. This would mean that he could in theory have an infinite number of tickets sold to this one concert. Pretty crazy huh? But what I'm really interested in finding out how SL slowly but surely is becoming FL. Will there one day be all that there is in FL in SL? I'm not quite sure, but to do the creativeness of some poeple I'm pretty sure the answer would be yes. While pondering these question the saying "Art imitates life" keeps popping into my head. I suppose in further excursions across the grid I'll search for answers to my questions and hopefully find out how closely the saying fits when talking about SL, and whether or not SL can become FL.

02/08/08 Today while flipping through the channels I saw something that instantly caught my interest. On MSNBC they were showing a speech recently where George W. Bush labeled a few different ares in Tennessee and Arkansas major disaster areas and announced that he would be using federal aid to help the communities rebuild saying "I have no doubt in my mind this community will come back better than before" (Quote from [|here]). After hearing that I couldn't help but remember the chapters of Shock Doctrine in which Naomi Kliene Talks about Hurricane Katrina, and Indonesia. I wonder if these places too will become Fema-villes filled with trailers for all the poor residents of the town who watch all the functions of their local governments be subsidized while they can do nothing about it. By "better than before" does he mean that this areas will become places where the contractors will see this too as a way of cleansing the neighborhoods of the poor who can't afford to rebuild and begin erecting new shopping centers filled with Gaps, Starbucks', and Tuesday Mornings where there once was a trailer park that housed 100's of people? It's scary to think of this happening knowing the economic constraints on the poor must be massive due to their loss and, for most if not all, lack of insurance, which probably makes them feel as though they're helpless and that any government intervention is a good thing. In the next few days we'll have a clear answer to this question about rebuilding, and unfortunately I believe that history has already told us the answer. I my opinion it'll be just like always, a mass exodus of the poor who can't afford to rebuild, followed promptly by a mass entrance of contractors waiting to rebuild their small towns into the next great American Shopping Mall. But let's all hope that I'm proven wrong.

02/15/08 [|Public Works Island] was my destination on this fine day and as many others have found most places in SL that don't deal with sex or free stuff are mostly deserted. That doesn't reflect society at all (insert blatant sarcasm here). Anywho, the reason I ventured to such an island was because I wanted to see what it was bout. In my Philosophy class we recently spoke of Locke's view on Government and that it should be rather small and not worry too greatly about public works. This lead me to wonder about if there were any public sector jobs, or devices in SL. So upon visiting this place I discover that it has a great amount of magazine racks ranging from a gamer mag to a few about style and even some publications such a newspapers about the events that go on in SL. Something I found rather funny was a little stand next to me that said nothing more than "Vote!" The strange thing is there's no government in SL and there seem to be no presidents except for those who exist in various RP communities, so why would SL want to remind us to vote? Also upon walking along I found a dumpster which told me to inspect it. And it gave me a note card about dumpster diving.... I thought only poor kids who lived in trailer parks knew about such a "despicable" thing. I find it pretty funny that a place called public works island tells people to go look in dumpsters for free stuff and advocates the way I got a great deal of furniture for my new place. I'll be putting up some screen shots later, but for now enjoy reading.

03/26/08 Upon entering the "virtual world" (I fucking hate having to change the way I speak about the game now that this copyright stuff has started) I wandered aimlessly and listlessly around trying to find something to stimulate my interests. I searched for some places that were selling RL clothing and wanted to talk to the owners about what they thought of their taking of copyrighted material or in other words piracy. But alas as with most of my excursions into the "virtual world" I came up sorely disappointed. I found a few fun places like [|Ubercrummy & Kitsch] a store that parodies the styles of todays youth but doesn't actually steal them outright, or at least that's what I've found so far. I serached around here for soemone to talk to but no one was to be found except an afk person who was surrounded by flying butterflies. I then went to a place called [|Surreal Studios] which boasted that it had Hollister, Rocawear, and Abercrombie among others to deck out your avatar with. Their i decided my avatar was more manly than I am IRL and got himself a tattoo something I immediately regreted after seeing I could have spent my money on a Punisher shirt. I do happen to love Frank Castle. Anywho I sat there for about 25 minutes waiting to see if the owner would show up so I could question him/her about their use of specific clothing and what they would do if the men at Linden decided that they should try to extract value and start allowing companies to sell their own outfits ISL, and started beign pressed to take some of the more blatantly copyrighted material out of the virtual world. But of course nobody was around except for somebody sitting at jetpack level who refused to communicate with me. Upon becoming utterly bored I decided that may those people in the virtual world who have clothing stores like this also have jobs IRL so I shall wait and possibly return later tonight to see if I can finally question the elusive owners of these shops about the products they peddle ISL.

3/28/08 Just a screenshot of my trip to [|The Second Louvre] The Louvre in SL is essentially a free space in which artists ISL can display their images and artwork in an almost completely unrestricted way. The only restriction that these artists have is space. They are free to make art in any fasion and presumably out of any material they wish. There are sculptures, and paintings, some moving some not. It's truly all dependent on the artists imagination. I'm trying to set up an interview with the owner of this area to get more information. More coming soon.

4/4/08 [|The Lost Gardens of Apollo] is perhaps a forgotten paradise in the almost completely mechanized world of SL. It's sometimes hard to find sims in which people aren't just interested in sex, drugs, and rock n' roll. At the lost garden I found people who were more about finding fun and relaxing landscapes ISL instead of the "Go Dog Go" life often found polluting RL. I think that scenic bypasses like this are products of a generation that is slowly becoming immersed in a crazy spiral of mechanization and whatnot. We need to slow down and appreciate nature.... even if it is found in a video game. This begs the question that if the world is destroyed and all "nature" that is untainted by people is gone are we going to have to visit SL to finally "get away" and go on vacation. Are we going to have to go in world to get away from the world? Just some thoughts to ponder when reading Breakthrough and The Unsettling of America.

4/11/2008 Whilst flying around the grid in class on Friday I somehow found myself at [|International Info Island] this is a place dedicated to the sharing & presentation of information in SL. There are a few different zones on the island each dedicated to different things. For instance one area was called the "Peace Zone" and dedicated to the movement of religion in SL there were four different buildings, a mosque, a church, a synagogue, and what I'm thinking was a Buddhist temple. Within each were pictures relating to each religion and also links to were each sect could be found in SL. Rather than diving head first into the vast sea a slurls found on info island I decided to pick the island apart a little more. I found an area dedicated to the representation of scifi sims in SL as well. upon further inspection I found an area known as the "Bell Library Towers" when there saw that each floor of the three towers was dedicated to a the spread of knowledge about a different subject of study, ranging from Astronomy to Women's Studies, in SL. I managed to snap a shot of the directories for each of the towers, but as Greth told me somebody accidentally stole the directory for the east tower, a feat that would be quite spectacular IRL, but nor so much ISL. This place was a goldmine for those people who are dying to get their hand on knowledge about anything. It was almost a library in visual form. Instead of having to read through tedious amounts of books you could instead hop over here and see the ideas represented before your very eyes, something that due to the sheer constraints of the physical world would be either improbable, or at least economically unsound. I then walked over to the "Reference Desk" and found myslef face to face with what I assumed to be a robot due to the rapidity and technical nature of his greeting, but was actually a person. Below is an except of our conversation: (All the pictures and information given were used with the consent of the people working at [|International Info Island]) [11:34] You: I'm actually doing a research project for my poli sci class and I'm looking around for info about libraries and the transfer of information in SL [11:34] Gareth Otsuka: the transfer of information [11:34] You: yes [11:35] Gareth Otsuka: I can point you to a directory of the libraries in the information archipelago [11:35] You: that would be amazing [11:35] Gareth Otsuka: http://infoisland.org/directory.php [11:35] You: thank you (Time lapse) [11:38] You: do you mind if i ask a few questions and possibly use them on our web page for our lcass? [11:38] Gareth Otsuka: sure, by all means [11:38] You: class* [11:38] You: thanks [11:38] You: so have you found it easier to visit places in SL versus place in RL [11:39] Gareth Otsuka: I think as someone pinted out, in RL we live our lives in walled gardens, is SL happily the walls have gone :) [11:39] Gareth Otsuka: pointed* [11:39] You: true [11:39] Gareth Otsuka: in [11:40] You: so have you visited any places in SL that you never could/would in RL [11:40] Gareth Otsuka: I'd say yes, nightclubs for one, but also other places [11:41] You: such as??? [11:41] Gareth Otsuka: well all the libraries and museums, the other islands [11:41] You: nice [11:42] Gareth Otsuka: I think I get to meet with people from around the globe, which I don't in RL [11:42] You: that is pretty cool [11:42] Gareth Otsuka: I went to an Arabic library yesterday, in SL [11:43] You: so do you think it's easier to share ideas and information in SL than it is in RL? [11:44] Gareth Otsuka: I think SL is a place for communities to form, and a lot of socialising does take place [11:46] You: true do you think that's becuase it's easier to be yourself in SL because the norms of social activity aren't as apparent [11:47] Gareth Otsuka: hmm, I think because it is easier to meet people, the morms maybe are a bit more relaxed [11:47] You have offered friendship to Gareth Otsuka [11:47] Gareth Otsuka: there is a post on a blog that might be of interest here http://gareth62.blogspot.com/2008/03/social-media.html [11:48] You: thank you any help is greatly appreciated [11:48] Gareth Otsuka: I have found myself talking to everybody from directors to library assistants like myself [11:48] Gareth Otsuka: which is nice [11:49] Gareth Otsuka: I think social media also brings the cost of long distance communication down to almost nothing [11:49] You: that's very true [11:51] You: So you'd say that overall the transfer of information in SL is easier than in RL [11:54] Gareth Otsuka: yes is the answer, because distance is no longer a problem, and the norms are maybe at bit more relaxed

I wish I would have had more time to talk with Gareth but unfortunately I had to leave for work. I promise that this won't be my only post on the place visited today seeing how it was a virtual sea of SLURL's. This place to me really was a representation of the free flow of ideas that is lost in the culture of america today. We seem to have lost our ways and become consumers of whatever is physically accessable to us, but in SL the boundries that had encapsulated us are dissolved away, and we are left with nothing but our imagination to limit us in what kind of knowledge we can attain, and how it is that we can attain said knowledge.