Mann as Cyborg

59 W 12th Street . September 28, 2007 . 10:27 pm .


Steve Mann... my new best friend!

http://wearcam.org/index.html

T

Response to the readings - The Cell Phone, Hayles and Rheingold

59 W 12th Street . September 26, 2007 . 2:49 pm .

"The real promise of connecting computers is to free people, by embedding the means to solve problems in the things around us."

Neil Gershenfeld

New technology developments tend to emerge from very specific and circumstantial needs and desires, so it's not coincidental that they would flourish more powerfully in some environments than in others. Their impact might certainly be disruptive (even violent in some cases) but the implementation of new technologies also conveys a whole new realm of liberties and reaches for entire communities and/or social networks.

The lack of a cell phone in Jamaica became a sign of "individual deficiency" almost as quickly as its own consumption spread throughout the entire island. The momentum wasn't necessarily a result of the physical mobility cell phones enhanced, but about the empowerment they gave to the established social stratifications. These stratifications were already what basically kept the country together and for many more important than food or water.

There are no roads to your home, you are without electricity, isolated, hungry... now with a cell phone you are free to call your sister and ask her for money or check up on your sick friend without having to walk for days.

One of Steve Mann's (the first online cyborg) priorities, apart from webcasting everything he sees, is to coordinate a "defense strategy against technological tyranny." I think that if we are indeed going to build intelligent cities it need be with the sole purpose of complementing the lives we already lead, the people we already are and solidifying existing infrastructures. It should be inclusive, yes, but not intrusive.

Hayles presents us in her texts the possibilities and almost archaic fears of machines "taking over the world", but luckily the turnout will not be as dramatic. Human and computer interaction should (and most definitely will) continue to escalate and I believe Rheingold defends it more accurately: what should be exalted alongside technology is the dignity of the individual and not its disappearance from the equation.

Just as love increases in value when it is shared, new mediums and technologies will do the same.

T

I Like Your Tattoos

11 W 81st Street . September 22, 2007 . 9:19 pm .

My Second Life adventures have given me a good number of interesting friends thus far. Five days ago I met Iruma Kamachi at Japan Resort. Iruma Kamachi had a lot of tattoos and was wearing a diving helmet. It was late at night and I had had a couple of pathetic conversations elsewhere that evening. To my surprise though Japan Resort was a beautiful hill, by the water and full of cherry blossom trees.

I sat on a bench to people-watch. There were 5 or 6 others sitting around me in complete silence ("camping" I was told.) It got awkward but Iruma suddenly came out of the blue to say hello. He was very friendly and full of energy which, given the circumstances, I appreciated. He was from Portugal and our conversation evolved so naturally that soon my mute bench mate, Ng Auer, asked us to join in.

We talked a lot about Second Life and how it broadens our view about ourselves. He told me that 25,000 Linden dollars equal about 60 euros. He explained that people usually build things from scratch and sell them to make money. Iruma himself had created some of his tattoos which had already been bought for up to 100 Linden dollars a piece.

I said "I like your tattoos..." and he gave me one for free.

Most importantly though, Iruma and Ng told me for the first time about Freebie Planet. I could not believe I knew nothing of the place and suddenly understood many a thing - like my boring outfit! (Boring but now that I lost it though I miss it terribly.)

I suddenly had no time to lose, thanked them both and immediately teleported myself on a shopping spree.

T

The Dance That Wouldn't Stop

59 W 12th Street . 8:47 pm . September 13, 2007 .

Aw... Second Life was a new world today!

Today I shared it with people I know from Real Life and it was twice as fun and much more interesting than before. Just like any newbie would feel when strolling down the streets of Manhattan for the first time, it is very hard not to be intimidated by Second Life. It's big. It can get quiet and lonely. It has a fair amount of scary people walking around who talk funny, are maybe naked and/or wearing wings. You see avatars having panic attacks but can also encounter those with the confident poise of thee who knows exactly what thee's doing. And those, my friends, are the scariest of all.

Going back to the readings from class... Internet Research Ethics suggests that the "Internet is not simply a virtual space in which human actors can be observed: it is a medium through which a wide variety of statements are produced." So by creating Ainat I've produced a person. As virtual as she is -or as much as I may have solely authored her- I see Ainat as a separate entity from me. I don't necessarily act like myself when operating her and, although she functions through me, she is independent. She's makings friends, experiencing new places and arriving at conclusions on her own.

This thought however seems to be completely against some of the ideas in the readings which state that in the case of Internet supported texts at least, they are not objects distinct from those who write them nor virtual. Because of this it's been of invaluable importance for me to be engaged in active academic discussion on these subjects as I experience them for the first time.

And for the record... it is definitely not the same thing to stand quietly by the dance floor at Club Heaven than to dance with my friends Centurion Bikcin and Kamran Talaj (whose Real Life identities I'm tempted to reveal but won't.)

T

Miami and Yeah

59 W 12th Street . 12:12 am . September 12, 2007 .

"In our time of social and environmental disintegration... today's proselytizers of cyberspace proffer their domain as an idealized realm 'above' and 'beyond' the problems of the troubled material world."

Margaret Whortheim

My best friend and I fantasize about our future kids getting married. He's having a daughter and calling her Yeah; I'm having a son and calling him Miami. Miami and Yeah will grow up, fall madly in love and live happily ever after.

This summer I started reading a book called The Ecology of Commerce which, tragically, made me question the mere idea of ever having kids. Dear readers... I've wanted kids all my life. So I quickly told my friend about it (along with some ideas from the book) to which he responded that he wouldn't have kids either. What for? We had arrived to the chilling and crystal clear conclusion that humans should really stop having children altogether.

I found this Margaret Whortheim quote in one of the readings for class and I was very relieved by it: I can still have kids if I just have them live, breathe and breed in Second Life... yay! It shocked me to the core though, particularly because one of the things I noticed in Second Life last night was that people -or the ones I interacted with on this occasion at least- are genuinely happy there. By happy I mean enraptured and by enraptured I mean every single one of them.

I couldn't ask for anything else for Miami and Yeah other than some of that bliss and glee.

T

Club Heaven

59 W 12th Street . 9:35 pm . September 11, 2007 .

Last night I went to a Second Life nightclub called Heaven. The scene was very 80s -disco balls, jukeboxes galore- and Ainat learned how to break dance. Everyone was very friendly and cordial to everyone else and the music was great. It was interesting to observe how Ainat went through the same basic process of familiarization that anyone else would when entering a new club by themselves in Real Life. She observed, walked around, figured things out, was approached by someone, started talking, dancing... and dancing some more!

A little while later I was greeted by the club owner. He gave me an Animation so that I could repeat his moves on the dance floor. The space was huge and people were just dancing the night away. Time went by fast (I must have stayed for half an hour or so) and I had a blast. Ainat was grooving like a pro.

I hadn't had this much fun in a real club in a very long time and just the though of me acknowledging that is very scary. I want to refrain from using the word liberating but can't... Second Life is very liberating in many different levels.

Before leaving I was invited to join my first Second Life group and became an official Club Heaven VIP. I landmarked it and am now constantly receiving invitations to parties, events, etc. via email.

This last one was interesting...

Group Notice From: Adele Larsson

HEY GUYS WE ARE HAVING OUR 911 REMEMBRANCE PARTY RIGHT NOW.... $500 BEST IN UNIFORM AND QWARKY ON THE DECKS.
AFTER THE PARTY WE INTEND TO GO TO THE 911 MEMORIAL SITE HERE ON SL TO PAY OUR RESPECTS.
JOIN US
LOVE ALWAYS
ADELE

T

RL vs SL

59 W 12th Street . 7:23 pm . September 8, 2007 .

I've been visiting Second Life daily since I first started "playing" on Thursday. I've been in my apartment on both occasions and by myself. I feel very inclined to shut off Real Life completely the minute I log in, but it's extremely hard to focus my attention solely on one of my two worlds. It gets complicated (and a tad schizophrenic) with things like conversations. Ainat starts talking to someone and then my phone rings, people IM me, etc. I'm aware that I have to make a bigger effort to disconnect from things around me as I Second Live the Second Life.

I wanted to state the fact sooner rather than later that this blog will be mainly about my Second Life experiences. Other New School tales and endeavors will be included eventually but for now zarat228 is about Ainat. It's funny how I talk about her as if she was someone else. I guess she is someone else or, in any case, I want her to be.

I think about this a lot during the day. The words Ainat Lunasea have been stuck in my head all weekend. I'm starting to care about her well being greatly. It's a very motherly feeling. I get nervous when other avatars approach her, feel weird when they turn and walk away, always make her walk slowly, read all the instructions carefully. I want her to be the best she can be and actually take this very seriously. I don't perceive it as a game even when others consider it so. I want to be the best navigator, dominate all the tricks and rules and functions in order for Ainat to have a prosperous life in Second Life.

Ainat Lunasea

59 W 12th Street . 6:47 pm . September 7, 2007 .

I chose the name Ainat Lunasea for my avatar. Ainat is Tania spelled backwards and Lunasea seemed like the perfect last name for her. So, briefly after downloading the Second Life application, Ainat Lunasea and her purple sweater appeared in front of my eyes.

Ainat is a "girl next door." Of all the options I identified with this one the most. She however seemed very naive -but was very alert- when she first landed on Orientation Island. The first two people she saw, Mitchelle Lykin and Jain Benazzi, were both naked. Mitchelle came over right away and openly asked for sex. He then preceded to "hump" her and said "i humped u." Ainat felt a little bit threatened by this but managed to pay close attention to the situation and also to Mitchelle's other conversations.

I went through Orientation thoroughly and practiced. Ainat played around with a torch. Drove a car. Ran over a rat. Suddenly a guy called DHM Akina approached her and started a conversation in French. Mais oui... trés interesant. He spoke no English but I know a little French so we managed to get through the basics. He was very friendly and started asking questions like name, age, etc. Instinctively I answered the truth: Tania, 27. He was David and 26. The real vs the non-real posses a big dilemma for me in Second Life. Is my name Ainat or Tania? Is Ainat Tania? David asked for my MSN nickname and again I didn't know what to reply. The hesitation however was making me lose time -and friends- so I quickly got online a created a completely new MSN account for Ainat: lunasea27@hotmail.com.

We kept on talking until he asked if I was "celibataire". I freaked out and said that I wouldn't answer (thinking of course he was asking me if I was celibate.) He suddenly apologized for "offending" me, perceived that something was wrong, turned around and left. So I got out a dictionary and realized he had just asked if I was single... not celibate. Voilá. I had somehow managed to also scare men off in Second Life! I (or Ainat?) got on MSN to find him and spoke to him some more. His MSN nickname was Dada and his email malaga22@hotmail.fr.

By this point I was very tired. We said we would talk later and he would look me up today. I had started to get frustrated by the language barrier which proved to be deeper than the real, physical distance. I logged off... I don't type in French as fast as I do in English (or Spanish) anyway. But regardless of language or geography I made my first Second Life friend.

I am already loving it!

Probando, probando...

59 W 12th Street . 8:58 pm . September 6, 2007 .

This here, dearest friends, is my first blog post ever and I humbly admit to thee that I'm learning as I go. Technology makes me feel clumsy... and clumsy is something I'm usually not.

I've taken on the name zarat228 (my New School NetID) to portray a surprisingly powerful and vibrant alter ego that came to life the day I registered for classes. I'm very happy to be here and ecstatic about engaging in the great endeavour that this program is... and the wonders -and headaches- it will bring along with it.

Everybody, zarat228 here;
zarat228, this is everybody.



"And there came a time when to remain tight in a bud
was more painful
than the courage it took to bloom."

Anais Nin

T