I remember when everyone used MSN Messenger. In my school, everyone used it. I added people even if I didn't know them just to get more friends (just like Facebook). We never talked, but it was still cool having loads of people on there.
Alot of my American friends used AIM (AOL messenger). I didn't like it as much, but the noises are cool.
Then, along came IMVU! I used that for over a year, getting up money to buy awesome places to chill out and more outfits to wear to look hot. People could customize their character to whatever they liked. Me and my friends could talk in one room and talk on a sofa together, dance to music or lie in bed with one another. We could look at the stars at night or chill out on the beach. We could do whatever we wanted! Of course, this was the lazy way to hang out, but it was something to do while it was after school, we were procrasinating doing our homework and we lived to far away to meet up to actually hang out.
Of course, I talked to people whom I didn't actually know. I went to the "nightclubs" and danced with a few randoms before we decided to chill out somewhere else. You could be anyone you wanted on there and no one would know for sure! You could block them or just leave and they wouldn't be able to find you again.
During the tutorial at uni, I spent most of the time in ACTIVE WORLDS. So awesome. There were many different environments and you could fly! The graphics were so bad and hilarious. Me and my fellow uni mates just spent the time saying weird stuff to randoms. :) It was epic.
I am all for 3D virtual chat, but its just not for me to talk to friends. It's unsafe and so many weird people out there. I feel like you expose more of yourself on there than with just basic IM. Just text and a display picture is just fine. Virtual Worlds are too much effort and cost so much money to get yourself to look decent and have decent things. All I want to do is talk to people and catch up with what they are doing. Swimming, playing pool, sitting together on a couch, is definately not the same as doing it in real like. What is the point?
Friday, August 28, 2009
Part 5 - My love for GOOGLE
Leading on from my last blog post, I was testing a few search engines. I only checked out a few. Not all of them. It made me feel dirty, like if I logged on to Myspace right now instead of Facebook.
Anyway,
When I was in school, we were taught to use a specific search engine, I forget what its called exactly (I must find out), but it didn't list results by popularity. It categorized results into smaller and smaller subcategories until you found the one you wanted.
I hated using this, I missed google. I love google. Google is probably the most popular search engine. It even has its own VERB ("Why don't we google it?" "I just googled it") Even in movies, google shows up if someone is searching the internet.
Although, I guarantee you, anything you look up will probably show up with "Wikipedia" near the very top. From my knowledge, Google categorizes its results by popularity and how many people click on them. I would expect Wikipedia to show up because its easy to use and most probably lists something you were looking for (even though it may be false and untrustworthy because anyone can edit the information).
I used to use Yahoo! alot more a few years ago, but it wasn't coming up with enough results. Then I went to Google and BAM! Millions of results in less than half a second. It used to be slower than that. When I was in my early years of highschool, my IT teacher used to make us have "Google" races. We had to google something (anything) and the person whose results were found in the least amount of time by google, was able to go to lunch early to get into the tuckshop line first.
I hardly ever use e-mail because I used to get so much spam and my inbox would fill up so quickly, but ever since g-mail was introduced, I have 2 different accounts on there. One mostly for spam from facebook, myspace, bebo and other things I have subscribed to and another for work, university and family.
Anyway,
When I was in school, we were taught to use a specific search engine, I forget what its called exactly (I must find out), but it didn't list results by popularity. It categorized results into smaller and smaller subcategories until you found the one you wanted.
I hated using this, I missed google. I love google. Google is probably the most popular search engine. It even has its own VERB ("Why don't we google it?" "I just googled it") Even in movies, google shows up if someone is searching the internet.
Although, I guarantee you, anything you look up will probably show up with "Wikipedia" near the very top. From my knowledge, Google categorizes its results by popularity and how many people click on them. I would expect Wikipedia to show up because its easy to use and most probably lists something you were looking for (even though it may be false and untrustworthy because anyone can edit the information).
I used to use Yahoo! alot more a few years ago, but it wasn't coming up with enough results. Then I went to Google and BAM! Millions of results in less than half a second. It used to be slower than that. When I was in my early years of highschool, my IT teacher used to make us have "Google" races. We had to google something (anything) and the person whose results were found in the least amount of time by google, was able to go to lunch early to get into the tuckshop line first.
I hardly ever use e-mail because I used to get so much spam and my inbox would fill up so quickly, but ever since g-mail was introduced, I have 2 different accounts on there. One mostly for spam from facebook, myspace, bebo and other things I have subscribed to and another for work, university and family.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Part 4 - Testing... Testing...1 2 3
So one of my tasks this week is to answer these questions without google or wikipedia.... Now... WHAT AM I GONNA USE? They are the only ones that I really use, and this will be a challenge! Let us begin with 1 shall we?
1. What did Alan Turing wear while riding his bicycle around Bletchley Park?
[Note: Who is this guy? I have never heard of him before. This is definately a challenge.]
Went to AskJeeves and it came up with a website dedicated to him. I am going to take a guess at this question because how are we supposed to find it out. On his page and in other photos he is wearing tweed a lot... So I will guess A TWEED JACKET. =)
[http://www.turing.org.uk/turing/]
2. On what date did two computers first communicate with each other? Where were they?
So, for this one I tried to use hotbot.com (it sounds awesome), but epic fail. NEXT
Then, I attempted to use dogpile.com, it came up with "First Communion Ceremonies" (wtf?) epic fail. NEXT
Used yahoo and this is the best I could do. I didn't get a date, but from what I found from the unrelevant information I deciphered that the creation of the Local Area Network (LAN) was the first way for computers to communicate if they were connected.
3. What is Bill Gates’ birthday and what age was he when he sold his first software?
Used Yahoo! for this one again and it like the rest of the above its first link was to "Wikipedia" (which has been so tempting), but then its second link was to the microsoft website.
He was born on 28th October 1955! (First answer I know is right)
He sold his first software when he was around 19. (Estimation) From websites, it said he sold his first software after high school/during college, so I would guess around that age!
4. Where was the World Wide Web invented?
I don't need to use the internet for this question. Switzerland :) I know this because after reading Dan Brown's book "Angels & Demons" CERN is actually a real company name that is brought up in his fictional novel, so I researched about it! Very interesting stuff especially on Wikipedia. lol.
5. How does the power of the computer you are working on now compare with the power of a personal computer from 30 years ago?
WOW. This is amazing. http://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/?category=cmptr (found through yahoo). I cannot believe that computers in the 1970s had like a KILOBYTE of memory. Do you know what we could store with only a few kilbytes of memory today? NOTHING.
It says in 1981 "The first PC ran on a 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 microprocessor and used Microsoft´s MS-DOS operating system". Wow. Wow. Wow. Everyone should see my face right now. Total geek like.
ROFLCOPTER @ the first portable computer. It cost as much as my laptop cost now. Imagine this:
My Laptop - 2GB RAM, 400GB memory, 2.6Ghz Intel Centrino 2, Windows Vista, 15.5 inch display, dvd/cd drive, 4 USB ports (you get the picture)
First Portable Computer - 5 inch display, 64 kilobytes memory, a modem, 5 1/4 inch floppy disk drives.
That is unbelievable.... what did people even USE them for? Maybe we can compare it to rich people buying expensive luxury cars because they can.
Also, (an interesting note) my laptop is now classed obsolete and I only bought it 8 months ago! The pace our world is at right now technology wise, is insane and unbelievable. I am barely catching up now.
1. What did Alan Turing wear while riding his bicycle around Bletchley Park?
[Note: Who is this guy? I have never heard of him before. This is definately a challenge.]
Went to AskJeeves and it came up with a website dedicated to him. I am going to take a guess at this question because how are we supposed to find it out. On his page and in other photos he is wearing tweed a lot... So I will guess A TWEED JACKET. =)
[http://www.turing.org.uk/turing/]
2. On what date did two computers first communicate with each other? Where were they?
So, for this one I tried to use hotbot.com (it sounds awesome), but epic fail. NEXT
Then, I attempted to use dogpile.com, it came up with "First Communion Ceremonies" (wtf?) epic fail. NEXT
Used yahoo and this is the best I could do. I didn't get a date, but from what I found from the unrelevant information I deciphered that the creation of the Local Area Network (LAN) was the first way for computers to communicate if they were connected.
3. What is Bill Gates’ birthday and what age was he when he sold his first software?
Used Yahoo! for this one again and it like the rest of the above its first link was to "Wikipedia" (which has been so tempting), but then its second link was to the microsoft website.
He was born on 28th October 1955! (First answer I know is right)
He sold his first software when he was around 19. (Estimation) From websites, it said he sold his first software after high school/during college, so I would guess around that age!
4. Where was the World Wide Web invented?
I don't need to use the internet for this question. Switzerland :) I know this because after reading Dan Brown's book "Angels & Demons" CERN is actually a real company name that is brought up in his fictional novel, so I researched about it! Very interesting stuff especially on Wikipedia. lol.
5. How does the power of the computer you are working on now compare with the power of a personal computer from 30 years ago?
WOW. This is amazing. http://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/?category=cmptr (found through yahoo). I cannot believe that computers in the 1970s had like a KILOBYTE of memory. Do you know what we could store with only a few kilbytes of memory today? NOTHING.
It says in 1981 "The first PC ran on a 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 microprocessor and used Microsoft´s MS-DOS operating system". Wow. Wow. Wow. Everyone should see my face right now. Total geek like.
ROFLCOPTER @ the first portable computer. It cost as much as my laptop cost now. Imagine this:
My Laptop - 2GB RAM, 400GB memory, 2.6Ghz Intel Centrino 2, Windows Vista, 15.5 inch display, dvd/cd drive, 4 USB ports (you get the picture)
First Portable Computer - 5 inch display, 64 kilobytes memory, a modem, 5 1/4 inch floppy disk drives.
That is unbelievable.... what did people even USE them for? Maybe we can compare it to rich people buying expensive luxury cars because they can.
Also, (an interesting note) my laptop is now classed obsolete and I only bought it 8 months ago! The pace our world is at right now technology wise, is insane and unbelievable. I am barely catching up now.
Part 3 - The New Way To Communicate
Does anyone remember the times when you wanted to ask a girl on a date? The good old fashioned face-to-face way. You get all nervous and walk up to her. You ask her directly and you can get rejected infront of everyone.
Then came asking people on a date through a phone... text message.... e-mail.... instant messenger..... myspace.... facebook.
It just got easier and easier to ask other people out on a date because then you don't have to be there to see their reaction.
There is a point to this! This YAHOO! commercial just made me think about it. This video also showed the evolution of technology. As technology got more advanced, the way to communicate changed along with it. From basic text to sharing photos and now videos.
Then came asking people on a date through a phone... text message.... e-mail.... instant messenger..... myspace.... facebook.
It just got easier and easier to ask other people out on a date because then you don't have to be there to see their reaction.
There is a point to this! This YAHOO! commercial just made me think about it. This video also showed the evolution of technology. As technology got more advanced, the way to communicate changed along with it. From basic text to sharing photos and now videos.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Part 2 - The relationship between me and technology
When I first went on a computer at the age of 5 or 6, I was in the United States. Computers then were of a dirty white colour, the keyboard was bulky and heavy; the monitor was of an immense size and weight and the desktop had less than 500MB of memory ram; had only the basic colours; and to think that its memory was ALOT less than 100 GBs is astonishing.
It makes me laugh when I think about how I was even alive when computers were at those very basic stages and how they are now. I couldn't help, but play on the windows 'Paint' application for hours on end making mickey mouse shapes and drawings of my house and family. I thought it was the most amazing thing.
When I discovered the internet, it was like love at first sight: an escape from the real world into the virtual world and even into some elses. At first, I used the internet for school research. Then my dad introduced me to online gaming and my school friends introduced me to Myspace.
I remember the first online game I was addicted to was called 'Medal of Honor: Allied Assault'. It was only a demo and with only three servers between everyone that owned the demo. There were clans of people that knew eachother and eventually I would be part of one of them.
They didn't have voice chat in that game as they do now in most online gaming, but in-game chat. People would occasionally say 'hi' or comment on how well your shot was. The next time you see each other in the same server, conversations start; you get into their clan; and meet other people whom you will never actually meet in real life, but talk to on a regular basis about yourself. Throw in a few jokes. It becomes more than just a game: it's a meeting place aswell.
Then there was Myspace. Everyone had one when I was in school. You wanted the most friends, people added bands to get their number friends up. Then, people would add you even though they didn't talk to you in person! People would post up their hottest pictures of themselves in the most revealing outfit. Then you would search online to make your profile all cool with html codes which also created a mass of spam. You'd try and get people to comment.
I didn't really like myspace and all around it just seemed like a competition.... and would cause fights between friends on who was #1 in their top friends list. I would comment here and there, but it wasn't about a 'typical conversation' like "hi. how are you?" it was more of a "duddeee just thought i'd say hi. pics are hot. see u at skoolio homie." Occasionally, I would find myself on my sisters profile calling her a "freak" just for fun.
Myspace became my worst enemy when people started blogging and putting up edited pictures of me. It is insanely humiliating and not really anything Myspace can do to stop any of it except maybe ban the profile, but it is so easy to just get a new one that they can post it up again and add everyone back. People could harrass you publicly on your own profile if you didn't set it to private. Your mum could easily make up a fake account and you'd accept the friend request because hey, the more friends, the more popular you seem to be. Then she could check out the pictures you didn't want her to see in the first place.
During the Myspace era, I also had a bebo which was mostly for my family. At first, I had created the Bebo as a page dedicated to the love of my current girlfriend, and had not set the profile prviacy to private. Little did I know that my older brother and sister and my mother would be the first ones to add me as a friend on Bebo. Anyone could have seen that information. They would have figured out I was gay, but that was how my family first started having speculations about it and my denial began. I didn't care if anyone else had seen it, but they did. After that, I had been extra cautious on what I wrote about myself on my page.
Now that I have moved countries. I moved on in my gaming and social networks. Today, I don't have a myspace or bebo and I don't play Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. Instead, I own a Facebook and a Twitter. 2 rising popular social networks today. When I first got a facebook, it wasn't that popular and peopel continued to use Myspace, then gradually, I lost interest in myspace and the amount of friends I had on Facebook grew faster and it still continues to grow.
As soon as you meet someone at parties for the first time or out in the town, they most likely if they know your name and remember what you look like, stalk you down on facebook and add you as a friend. Casually commenting on statuses or commenting on photos or on your wall now and again. Instead of putting up, not only hot pictures of yourself, but people can take pictures of you and "tag" you for all to see. Glamerous or not. Maybe they are baby pictures or pictures of your first night out that you actually DID want to share with everyone else. It gives people a chance to see you grow and look at over time.
You can also get people "Facebook stalking" you. They check up on your profile to see what people are saying on your wall/photos/posts to find out more about you. They study and continue to check up creepily on your updated facebook statuses to find out what you are doing so maybe they can track you down now or later.
It becomes an addiction to constantly update people by typing up a new status. THen you comment on other people's if they make you smile or make you sad. It is difficult not to check the homepage for notifications of your own. I know when it says somone has commented on my wall, I do feel special that someone took their time to go to my home page and actually type something for me to see, especially if it is someone I want to talk to. It might also be an old friend whom I haven't talk to in years decide to talk to me to catch up especially since I had moved country, my old friends had all split up to different parts of the world and social networks like Facebook were only means of communication that was free and guaranteed to reach the correspondent if they checked their profile regularly.
I have had no problems with sharing the imformation I already do on facebook. I don't give out my exact location, but just pinning down a city. I accept/add people I have met before both/either online or offline. Every friend I have added on my personal profile page, I have heard them speak before because my online gaming friends are on it too.
Recently, I have been playing Left 4 Dead on the computer online for the past 6 months. Of course, in every game, you learn the maps and the basic tactics of fighting. You try and master the controls to then eventually face everyone online against skills. People did remember me and I then became part of their clan. I started to talk to some of them outside of the game and began playing other games with them and eventually met every week at a certain time to play online together. They then found their way onto my Facebook. We have never met face to face, but they are a really cool group of people. They never have harassed me or asked me for any personal details. I never had a problem with them.
It makes me laugh when I think about how I was even alive when computers were at those very basic stages and how they are now. I couldn't help, but play on the windows 'Paint' application for hours on end making mickey mouse shapes and drawings of my house and family. I thought it was the most amazing thing.
When I discovered the internet, it was like love at first sight: an escape from the real world into the virtual world and even into some elses. At first, I used the internet for school research. Then my dad introduced me to online gaming and my school friends introduced me to Myspace.
I remember the first online game I was addicted to was called 'Medal of Honor: Allied Assault'. It was only a demo and with only three servers between everyone that owned the demo. There were clans of people that knew eachother and eventually I would be part of one of them.
They didn't have voice chat in that game as they do now in most online gaming, but in-game chat. People would occasionally say 'hi' or comment on how well your shot was. The next time you see each other in the same server, conversations start; you get into their clan; and meet other people whom you will never actually meet in real life, but talk to on a regular basis about yourself. Throw in a few jokes. It becomes more than just a game: it's a meeting place aswell.
Then there was Myspace. Everyone had one when I was in school. You wanted the most friends, people added bands to get their number friends up. Then, people would add you even though they didn't talk to you in person! People would post up their hottest pictures of themselves in the most revealing outfit. Then you would search online to make your profile all cool with html codes which also created a mass of spam. You'd try and get people to comment.
I didn't really like myspace and all around it just seemed like a competition.... and would cause fights between friends on who was #1 in their top friends list. I would comment here and there, but it wasn't about a 'typical conversation' like "hi. how are you?" it was more of a "duddeee just thought i'd say hi. pics are hot. see u at skoolio homie." Occasionally, I would find myself on my sisters profile calling her a "freak" just for fun.
Myspace became my worst enemy when people started blogging and putting up edited pictures of me. It is insanely humiliating and not really anything Myspace can do to stop any of it except maybe ban the profile, but it is so easy to just get a new one that they can post it up again and add everyone back. People could harrass you publicly on your own profile if you didn't set it to private. Your mum could easily make up a fake account and you'd accept the friend request because hey, the more friends, the more popular you seem to be. Then she could check out the pictures you didn't want her to see in the first place.
During the Myspace era, I also had a bebo which was mostly for my family. At first, I had created the Bebo as a page dedicated to the love of my current girlfriend, and had not set the profile prviacy to private. Little did I know that my older brother and sister and my mother would be the first ones to add me as a friend on Bebo. Anyone could have seen that information. They would have figured out I was gay, but that was how my family first started having speculations about it and my denial began. I didn't care if anyone else had seen it, but they did. After that, I had been extra cautious on what I wrote about myself on my page.
Now that I have moved countries. I moved on in my gaming and social networks. Today, I don't have a myspace or bebo and I don't play Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. Instead, I own a Facebook and a Twitter. 2 rising popular social networks today. When I first got a facebook, it wasn't that popular and peopel continued to use Myspace, then gradually, I lost interest in myspace and the amount of friends I had on Facebook grew faster and it still continues to grow.
As soon as you meet someone at parties for the first time or out in the town, they most likely if they know your name and remember what you look like, stalk you down on facebook and add you as a friend. Casually commenting on statuses or commenting on photos or on your wall now and again. Instead of putting up, not only hot pictures of yourself, but people can take pictures of you and "tag" you for all to see. Glamerous or not. Maybe they are baby pictures or pictures of your first night out that you actually DID want to share with everyone else. It gives people a chance to see you grow and look at over time.
You can also get people "Facebook stalking" you. They check up on your profile to see what people are saying on your wall/photos/posts to find out more about you. They study and continue to check up creepily on your updated facebook statuses to find out what you are doing so maybe they can track you down now or later.
It becomes an addiction to constantly update people by typing up a new status. THen you comment on other people's if they make you smile or make you sad. It is difficult not to check the homepage for notifications of your own. I know when it says somone has commented on my wall, I do feel special that someone took their time to go to my home page and actually type something for me to see, especially if it is someone I want to talk to. It might also be an old friend whom I haven't talk to in years decide to talk to me to catch up especially since I had moved country, my old friends had all split up to different parts of the world and social networks like Facebook were only means of communication that was free and guaranteed to reach the correspondent if they checked their profile regularly.
I have had no problems with sharing the imformation I already do on facebook. I don't give out my exact location, but just pinning down a city. I accept/add people I have met before both/either online or offline. Every friend I have added on my personal profile page, I have heard them speak before because my online gaming friends are on it too.
Recently, I have been playing Left 4 Dead on the computer online for the past 6 months. Of course, in every game, you learn the maps and the basic tactics of fighting. You try and master the controls to then eventually face everyone online against skills. People did remember me and I then became part of their clan. I started to talk to some of them outside of the game and began playing other games with them and eventually met every week at a certain time to play online together. They then found their way onto my Facebook. We have never met face to face, but they are a really cool group of people. They never have harassed me or asked me for any personal details. I never had a problem with them.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
There's a first time for everything!
What's up, ladies and gentlemen?
First blog... pretty excited.
Everything is pretty much summed up about me in the title. Rainbows = awesome and I love to play games.
Video games more specifically: computer, psp, xbox, N64, old school sega!
I would own a PS3 if I was rich, but unfortunately I'm not. I would like to get one eventually.... I love both xbox and ps3 equally.
Although I know alot of you will be thinking very differently on this matter. I would love to hear your thoughts on it and definately send me some game recommendations. I play everything, except maybe racing games... I never understood how those were exciting.......
Appart from that, I'm interested in maybe becoming a DJ, just starting out. I love that type of music that just makes you dance and just makes you feel..... magical!
Hope you all enjoy my future posts, bloggers!
First blog... pretty excited.
Everything is pretty much summed up about me in the title. Rainbows = awesome and I love to play games.
Video games more specifically: computer, psp, xbox, N64, old school sega!
I would own a PS3 if I was rich, but unfortunately I'm not. I would like to get one eventually.... I love both xbox and ps3 equally.
Although I know alot of you will be thinking very differently on this matter. I would love to hear your thoughts on it and definately send me some game recommendations. I play everything, except maybe racing games... I never understood how those were exciting.......
Appart from that, I'm interested in maybe becoming a DJ, just starting out. I love that type of music that just makes you dance and just makes you feel..... magical!
Hope you all enjoy my future posts, bloggers!
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