A little techno-nostalgia, with possibly some hope in the future!
Remember back when…
I had a rather interesting dream last night which lead me to ask the following question this morning: what ever happened to virtual reality???
It’s like five or six years ago, VR was all the hype and everybody fantasized about all of the cool things that could be done with such technology…even a few ideas that were non-sexual…and then the Matrix came along and just scared the living crap out of everybody! Maybe people realized that it was a cool idea as long as you could still leave on your own, but as far as I’m concerned, I think we’ve still got a few more decades before the computers take over and enslave us all, so let’s enjoy it while we can!
Anyways, the dream went as follows – all of these MMORPGs today (Worlds of Warcraft, Star Wars Galaxies, and are people still playing Everquest???) could kick it up a notch and really give their users the experience of a lifetime by allowing them to really become their characters. Enough with trying to push a little, itty-bitty graphics card to new heights, let’s skip it up about three notches and immerse the player in a three dimensional world that they can explore as indepth as they could possibly desire – the beauty of computers allows us to skim over the mundane rocky spots, such as the concept that the average computer geek probably couldn’t traverse across a mountain range or pick-up a broad sword, let alone wield one! Granted, you’d still likely look ridiculous to anyone walking into the room as you appear to be waving an imaginary sword in the air as you battle giants, but hey, you can’t win ’em all…
Of course, take it a step further as more and more “worlds” are constructed virtually and suddenly the potential as more than just a cool game becomes even moreso apparent – hold a last-minute conference to discuss business strategy with offices from around the world, show the kids what hands-on learning is really all about as teachers give their students tours of historical and scientific breaking points in time (hey, it worked on The Simpsons!), or even make your first date a virtual one as you and your new friend tour the Louvre while still 10,000 miles apart (and nowhere near Paris!).
There’s so much potential here, but no, let’s focus our budget on blowing things up instead. 😛
Try fitting one into your normal routine… <<SOURCE>>
…pun intended…
I watched another episode of Discovery’s ongoing series – 100 Greatest Discoveries – on The Science Channel this evening. For those out of the know, the series is hosted by the one and only Bill Nye the Science Guy, who is the epitome of why I like science in the first place – it can be fun and amazing and not boring if you want it to be!
I’ve only caught a few of the episodes – I missed the very first ones – but after they get through chemistry and biology in the next couple of weeks, I hope Discovery takes the lead and releases the entire series on DVD in the near future. They’ve managed to release all of the American Chopper episodes for outrageous fees – this is really the least that they can do for us…
Do you think it would be considered lazy and/or tacky to simply opt to keep my Christmas tree up all year round?
It still looks nice to me, and it really helps to bring the room together, if you will. Also, I don’t really have anyplace to put it once it’s been dismantled anyways, so what’s the harm in just leaving her be and spreading the love until it’s time to put presents underneath in another eleven months???
I discovered a new blog that has done quite a fine job at keeping my attention over the past few days that I thought I’d share…
If you’re looking for a good read, and you’re a science geek technologist like myself, then click away…
I finally had to kill it again today when it wouldn’t allow me to access any of my shared drives anymore. I’ll never understand how people can swear by this product – sure, it’s got a pretty interface, but maybe it was never intended to run on an independent box that just shuffles files back and forth. Why it still hasn’t managed to learn the difference between my desktop computer and any other PC on the Internet after using it for damn near a year, I’ll never know.
I don’t have the energy to find a replacement, so the Windows XP firewall is going to have to be good enough for now. Anybody have any opinions as far as what I might have a little better success with? I’m looking for firewall protection to go on a computer that basically just distributes Internet access to the rest of the house and holds a few other shared drives for movies and music and such…
Music Industry Must Respect Privacy of Filesharers
Ruling in Charter Case Smashes DMCA Subpoena Powers
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision today that will stop entertainment corporations from gaining access to the names of people using peer-to-peer (P2P) networks unless the companies file lawsuits against them and furnish actual evidence of copyright infringement. <<MORE>>
So I’ve been surfing around to the websites of various writers that I knew from back in the day in hopes of finding an idea or two for the redesign of my own site and sadly, I’ve come to only one shocking conclusion: most of them aren’t there anymore! Whether they legitimately left the business or their domain names merely got snagged out from under them and it didn’t seem to be worth the hassle to continue, the majority of the links under the Columns – Humor Writers in my bookmarks are now officially defunct. And not to mention that Dave Barry himself has officially “quit the biz” for the time being – nothing like being a mood killer, let me tell you!
On second thought, maybe I don’t want to all-out ditch the layout that I’ve worked so hard to develop anyways. Perhaps a little tweaking here and there would be just as effective as a full-blown facelift, and without half of the headache, either. I don’t know what I could change – it’s very difficult to consider asthetics when I rely so much on clipart to cover my lack of artistic ability anyways! Plus, the writing is supposed to be the focal point anyways…and then again, “You’ve gotta get ’em in the door before you can sell them any cheese…”
I’m officially torn – what do you think, America? (…and beyond…)
We had a topless protester at work today.
Ok, well she wasn’t actually on our floor, but we could see her out the window sitting down on the corner of Kennedy and Franklin by the park.
Apparently she was concerned about the circus or something…I don’t know – I wasn’t really paying attention to that part…