Oh, man, you-all, check out this link:
http://www.rider.edu/users/suler/psycyber/psycyber.html
I'm reading "The Online Disinhibition Effect" and oh my gosh...YES!

interesting, Jackie. the expected psychology, but the discussion about the Palace, and avatars got pretty bizarre.

there's no doubt that I am addicted to my computer and the internet, however!

...the Palace, and avatars
This is the kind of thing that's in the book "Snow Crash": there's a cyber-world with ...with...oh, dear, I'll have to say with what apparently looks like a 3D world, wherein members' avatars (new lingo to me!) walk, drive, and skateboard, interacting nearly like in real life. And now in this link, I find there really is such a place. Weird--I'd be scared to death to try something like that.

For the record, I am slogging through the book; I'm about halfway. Riveting, it's not. Mr. Stephenson mentions some interesting development of language; he says the Sumerians changed everything. I think he's saying that we create our own reality by the language we use. Though I'm fuzzy on just what he IS saying. Can anyone who's read this clarify?

Regarding Snow Crash:
I liked the book a lot in the beginning, but it got increasingly lame towards the end. Similiarly with The Diamond Age. His best I've read so far is Cryptonomicon (mentioned a few months ago). It has a slightly hokey ending, but not completely lame - and the act of getting there - wow. It's my all-time favorite book.

Snow Crash (along with Neuromancer and Ender's Game) are almost required reading at my job (highly recommended in any case). However, one of my favorites is a book I read from (I think) back in the 70s called True Names (Vernor Vinge). This one's not about virtual worlds, per se, but it's kinduva cult classic among some hackers.

Cyberspace is one of those words like "infobahn" that grates on me. It's probably the most common term, and I reckon nearly everyone knows what it means, but every time I hear it I think of that episode of the Dick Van Dyke show where the FBI uses Petrie's house to spy on one of his neighbors and he makes mention of the "binocs" to an agent. Other terms are virtual worlds, virtual environments, terrain databases, virtual terrains, synthetic environments, synthetic natural environments.

k

All this is good education for those who have come lately to "cyberspace."

Meanwhile, I haven't read Snowcrash, but I agree Cryptonomicon is a great book.

synthetic natural environments
Not to be contrary, but...isn't that kind of a contradiction in terms?

synthetic natural environments

isn't that kind of a contradiction in terms?

Depends on your definition of synthetic:

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=synthetic

An environment that was cobbed together from various natural elements that didn't grow together naturally, such as a ponderosa pine forest with palm tree lined lagoons next to it might be considered a synthetic natural environment. Probably not what they're getting at here. This is probably more something like a computer generated environment that had computer simulated elements based on natural things like trees and hills and streams rather than an environment that was nothing but floors and walls.

Nah, just look at NY City's Centeral park. it looks natural, with rock out croppings streams, ponds, forests, meadows and field.. and all of it is carefully landscaped!

the "ponds" are semi natural, ie, there were wetland/marshy areas in the park boundries.. but now, the ponds have paved edges, with little docks (you can rent a row boat and paddle about) and the stream? all man made.. but as you walk along its meandering path, you'd swear it was all natural... a synthetic natural environment.

and the "bio sphere" or green houses or lots of other places could be catogorized the same way....

Synthetic Natural Environments"

I reckon it is an oxymoron of sorts. What the word is meant to emphasize is that the virtual world being represented is a real place and not a purely fictitious place for example, NYC as opposed to, say, the planet Glabnox.

http://virtualcities.ida.org/ has some interesting stuff on it, for example, that's used for emergency response training.

OTOH, some of the "real" stuff looks pretty unreal. Here's a shot I took http://www.geocities.com/elbillaf/tah_av3b.bmp of the bottom of Lake Tahoe (looking up at the landslide area) one of my interns created from freely available data the USGS maintains on the lake (http://tahoe.usgs.gov/). Looks kinda like a martian landscape.


Oh, yea, another term is "integrated natural environments."

Genuine imitation wood paneling.

Use emoticons to express your tone
In online communication, visual and auditory cues are replaced by emoticons, for example, smiles, winks, and laughter. It helps to use emoticons to convey your tone. Additionally, if you like the person, tell them! Having a conflict or misunderstanding doesn’t mean you don’t like the person any more, but people often forget that reality, or don’t think to say it. It may be most needed during a tense interaction.



What can I say?