While our government is reducing the accessibility (no tax deduction for computer only for net-plugs), some other ones are trying to increase it. And they are not only doing it for us normal people but also for disabled. Although the Great Britain's (GB) government still doesn't have it perfect, they do (obviously) try to perfect it. And this will also in a way increase the political participation of marginalised groups. If nothing else at least their ideas, suggestions etc. might find a place in public domain.
In my opinion everyone should have access to internet and should be thoroughly educated about how to use it. Instead of being online all the time, sitting in front of computer and wondering where they might find the information they are looking for. Maybe it would also open the eyes to those who think internet is a bad thing made by the devil himself. Sadly such people do exist.
Link!
Friday, March 31, 2006
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Internet control
It kind of bothers me because more and more countries are tightening their control over what we do online and what we don't. They keep tell us what is good for us without considering that we might be old enough to decide for ourselves.
So when i saw this picture:
It made me laugh, but at the same time it's a bit frightening. Google is well known for it's control over your emails and various other stuff they have. They are constantly scanning the users. So beware! You have been WARNED!
So when i saw this picture:
It made me laugh, but at the same time it's a bit frightening. Google is well known for it's control over your emails and various other stuff they have. They are constantly scanning the users. So beware! You have been WARNED!
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Another day, another post...
Well it's been another long day with multivariable statistics to occupy my time after work. It's 2200 now, came home about 20 mins ago. Anyway it's time for another post. I was thinking in connection with some other posts do people actualyl read these blogs? I mean how many hits do we actually get per day? And while i was thinking that i remembered Maddox and his website: "The best page in the Universe". He get's about 100 hits per minute and is very popular among various internet communities. Well i think his words say it pefectly: "This page is about me and why everything I like is great. If you disagree with anything you find on this page, you are wrong." Anyway the reason he popped in my mind is because quite some time ago he made this post about blogs and why he hates them. He has some serious issues with them. He can't really stand them and the words that were formed arround it. So in his own very sarcastic way he decided to say a few things about them. Therefore if you want to see the completelly opposite perspective on blogs click here.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Apparenlty new media can help prisoners to rehabilitate
Well I would never guess that computer games can bring people closer to society. But here is the proof. The thing is that computer games are usually hated for their violent contents. And often have various marks that rate them. And usually parents try to get their children away from computers.
On the other hand it seems they also might help create communities (especially nowadays). People become part of something. And that is very important for those that were rejected by society for various reasons.
On the other hand it seems they also might help create communities (especially nowadays). People become part of something. And that is very important for those that were rejected by society for various reasons.
A second entry
Well nothing much to say... I seriously belive forums RULE! compared to blogs. There. I've said it.
Virtual communities
By Gregor Gorjan
Virtual communities were made with emergence of new media, specifically the internet. The members in such communities are usually geographically unrelated. But there is some issue that binds them together. Be it computer games, cars, various hobbies etc. they are closely connected through the issue.
What I find interesting is what happens if the issue or theme that binds them suddenly becomes forbidden. It appears that communities also fall apart in such case. I personally witnessed two such events. One was a Firearms half-life modification community. The community was relatively strong with a very lively political debate over firearms issues and it was very much easy to spot republicans and democrats. Suddenly the Half-life engine that was used to run this modification (multi-player online computer game) rapidly change. Half-life 2 came out, there were sudden changes in user checking (WON has changed to STEAM) and many users had problems with it. Suddenly the internal “battle” became more apparent as one group managed to sabotage the discussion board. The community instantly split in two. And soon 2 new modifications started it’s development, both claiming to be the legal successor. For about six months debates were whether this is good or bad and similar. Until recently when many users permanently left the old discussion board and joined to the other, due to often covert pressure from administrators and covert nationalism. But what I am trying to point out is that old community fell totally apart and it all happened very fast.
Another example I had witnessed was a community of old computer games - the so called abandonware site. Abandonware is a term that specifies computer games that are not supported by it’s authors anymore. It is technically still illegal to publish them, however since the author (company) doesn’t exists anymore no one will prosecute you for doing that. Some companies when they go bankrupt even give away the games for free. The site I am talking about was formed 2 years ago. The number of games on site was increasing due to sites policy that every game that is not sold anymore is considered to be abandoned. The number of people in community grew almost exponentially. But then suddenly ESA (Entertainment Software Association) stepped in with a very nasty threat. Apparently some other companies were holding copyrights over a lot of published games and unless we had a specific deal we are allowed to publish them they would have pursued legal action against the owner(s). So a lot of games have been removed form the site overnight, because owner had no other choice. People instantly became rebellious. The discussion boards had most users online at the same time (142 people). And suddenly a large community that was growing became much smaller. A lot of people had seen that since no good games will be on they should leave. They weren’t tied to it as if they would be in real community. And it was easy for them to leave or become a “lurked”. A “lurked” is a person that only watches posts form time to time and doesn’t contribute to debate. So the topic (theme) that was binding them was gone and so were the users. A few left and continued with dedicated work and soon community started to grow back but it will probably never reach previous status (unless there is some world-wide change of policy about copyrights)
Virtual communities, as Rheingold establishes (Rheingold, 1993b), developed their own language. But as things change fast on internet the language development progressed. And now they developed their own writing. The so called “Leet” language (or 1337), which includes jokes outsiders don’t understand and very loose structure. It includes words (and looks) like: h4x0rz, ch34732, n00b, w00t, pwn3d, pwn4g3, kekeke, 11… Leet language appears to be the next stage from so called AOL-messaging language.
Since new languages have developed perhaps even bigger focus should be set to culture within these communities. It appear that most of it is based on sci-fi and Mythical (such as Lord of the rings) series, books, films… It is important to study these communities because they combine intellectual as well as children.
Literature:
Jankowski W. Nicholas. (????) Creating community with Media: History, Theories and Scientific Investigations.
Rheingold, H. (1993b) The virtual community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier. Reading MA: Adison-Wesley, Avalilable online: http:www.rheingold.com/vc/book
By Gregor Gorjan
Virtual communities were made with emergence of new media, specifically the internet. The members in such communities are usually geographically unrelated. But there is some issue that binds them together. Be it computer games, cars, various hobbies etc. they are closely connected through the issue.
What I find interesting is what happens if the issue or theme that binds them suddenly becomes forbidden. It appears that communities also fall apart in such case. I personally witnessed two such events. One was a Firearms half-life modification community. The community was relatively strong with a very lively political debate over firearms issues and it was very much easy to spot republicans and democrats. Suddenly the Half-life engine that was used to run this modification (multi-player online computer game) rapidly change. Half-life 2 came out, there were sudden changes in user checking (WON has changed to STEAM) and many users had problems with it. Suddenly the internal “battle” became more apparent as one group managed to sabotage the discussion board. The community instantly split in two. And soon 2 new modifications started it’s development, both claiming to be the legal successor. For about six months debates were whether this is good or bad and similar. Until recently when many users permanently left the old discussion board and joined to the other, due to often covert pressure from administrators and covert nationalism. But what I am trying to point out is that old community fell totally apart and it all happened very fast.
Another example I had witnessed was a community of old computer games - the so called abandonware site. Abandonware is a term that specifies computer games that are not supported by it’s authors anymore. It is technically still illegal to publish them, however since the author (company) doesn’t exists anymore no one will prosecute you for doing that. Some companies when they go bankrupt even give away the games for free. The site I am talking about was formed 2 years ago. The number of games on site was increasing due to sites policy that every game that is not sold anymore is considered to be abandoned. The number of people in community grew almost exponentially. But then suddenly ESA (Entertainment Software Association) stepped in with a very nasty threat. Apparently some other companies were holding copyrights over a lot of published games and unless we had a specific deal we are allowed to publish them they would have pursued legal action against the owner(s). So a lot of games have been removed form the site overnight, because owner had no other choice. People instantly became rebellious. The discussion boards had most users online at the same time (142 people). And suddenly a large community that was growing became much smaller. A lot of people had seen that since no good games will be on they should leave. They weren’t tied to it as if they would be in real community. And it was easy for them to leave or become a “lurked”. A “lurked” is a person that only watches posts form time to time and doesn’t contribute to debate. So the topic (theme) that was binding them was gone and so were the users. A few left and continued with dedicated work and soon community started to grow back but it will probably never reach previous status (unless there is some world-wide change of policy about copyrights)
Virtual communities, as Rheingold establishes (Rheingold, 1993b), developed their own language. But as things change fast on internet the language development progressed. And now they developed their own writing. The so called “Leet” language (or 1337), which includes jokes outsiders don’t understand and very loose structure. It includes words (and looks) like: h4x0rz, ch34732, n00b, w00t, pwn3d, pwn4g3, kekeke, 11… Leet language appears to be the next stage from so called AOL-messaging language.
Since new languages have developed perhaps even bigger focus should be set to culture within these communities. It appear that most of it is based on sci-fi and Mythical (such as Lord of the rings) series, books, films… It is important to study these communities because they combine intellectual as well as children.
Literature:
Jankowski W. Nicholas. (????) Creating community with Media: History, Theories and Scientific Investigations.
Rheingold, H. (1993b) The virtual community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier. Reading MA: Adison-Wesley, Avalilable online: http:www.rheingold.com/vc/book
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