The Growth of the Internet

Click [[HERE]] to view the entire post on how the internet and its activity has grown over the past 10 years.

An All-Encompassing World

(Revised essay from before.) Empathizing the Epic RPG
By Rebekah Minkiewicz


When I was little, I was taught that for something to be considered “alive,” it must fit certain criteria that scientists have conceived to match all living creatures to survive. In basic elementary school knowledge, they were simplified as having to eat, needing to breathe, requiring shelter, and the ability to have children. Although we are taught inaccurate basics to life when we are little, the introduction lead us to understand that living things require much more depending on the individual.
Later, we grow to be more independent beings, living souls with separate goals and different natures. To “live” is redefined in us as what we strive for, to live for intellectual connections, enjoyment, and purpose. This can range from having a family to gambling for hours to earning a Nobel prize. But today, I have noticed that in our generation, we crave attention in order to “live” and survive. We make blogs, videos, and other cybernetic media hoping that an individual soul out there is listening. But why would you go through the trouble of having a tumblr when you’re not sure who’s listening when you can have a life-long companion that will always listen? Why not live with the attention swarming around you?
Although I would love to be nostalgic and sympathetic through focusing this paper on gigapets, neopets, or other devices that have impacted my sensitivity for living or non-living creatures, I believe I should talk about the most profound technology that I believe has adapted to resembling life and care within many youth my age. This is a game known as a “RPG” (“role playing game”) where you, the main character, has a major objective and ultimately plays a protagonist role. The game of which I speak of has created a very life-like universe that modifies completely based on every action you take with in-depth storylines and random encounters to enrich the gameplay. Because of this complex technology, many players (including myself) have spent hundreds of hours exploring the possibilities, yet to complete every outcome available. However, while I try to learn this game’s depth and storylines as much as I can, I can’t help but behave sympathetically to the NPC’s (non-player-characters, most identifiable as humanoid program-based icons). This game is Elder Scrolls V, commonly known as Skyrim.
Game Informer, a top-line gaming magazine, does the honor of outlining the superior aspects of this game. In an extensive review from a 2011 issue, they judged the game not only from its visual appeal and plotline, but most of all the life-like reality contained within. USA Today gave it 4 stars. G4TV named it “one of the greatest games ever.” Why is this? The back of the cover puts it plainly, not focusing on the story, advanced gameplay, or abilities.


Skyrim reimagines and revolutionizes the open-world fantasy epic, bringing to life a complete virtual world open for you to explore any way you choose. The legendary freedom of choice, storytelling, and adventure of The Elder Scrolls is realized like never before.

I relate these acclimations to Sherry Turkle’s book Alone Together, where she discusses the effectiveness on a robot or program on the self. On page 69, she states,

In the robotic moment, what you are made of-silicone, metal, flesh-pales in comparison with how you behave. In any given circumstance, some people and some robots are competent and some not. Like people, any particular robot needs to be judge on its own merits. (69)

Skyrim lets me be a hero or a villain. It allows me to grow in any way I wish, conquer or aid, and even marry. I can kill those that annoy me or gift to charity. Each affect has consequences and reactions of which are profoundly similar to our world, many so indirect and well-crafted in plot that it astounds me. Hundreds of small stories are scattered within the universe’s plotline, each one involving an interest. For each small story, we become attached to secondary characters as if they were living.
In the beginning of a story, a man helps you escape a dragon attack and takes you to his family who gives you aid and items to help you begin the storyline. Even this little family, which many people forget later on, has an affect on me. Their “kindness” and “family ties” draw me to empathize with them and their poverty. They have given to me, or my character, what they cannot afford to give away. Because of this, I spent quite a while reloading my game when a dragon attacked their city and the father of the family kept dying.
After I was able to kill the dragon without the father dying, I sat back and noticed how effective this game was. I spent over an hour trying to complete the impossible just because I could not handle playing in a world where this unimportant, loving character died. I am given thanks for helping those, notoriety when I complete tasks, attention for saving people, and infamy for carrying out dark tasks.
Turkle speaks of her conversation with Audrey as she talks about her experiences with online media (192). One of them is called Second Life, where one creates an avatar and tries to construct a life with online interactions. She says by creating an avatar and completing achievements, we can have a better sense of self, a higher self-esteem and self-worth. In Skyrim, we personalize our character from race, gender, facial features, body type, color, war paint, and more to fit our aesthetic pleasures. It reflects a part of who we are, just like in Audrey’s world of Second Life. Play Station, as well as many other current game stations, awards “achievements” or “trophies” for completing an unusual aspect of each game, such as collecting certain items, reaching maximum levels and so on. Not only do players try to collect these as a personal game, but we can judge ourselves against each other in network ranks as if we accomplished something more.
Within the game Skyrim, you can also achieve titles, awards, and much more to post the fame and importance of your character. You are a hero naturally, but you can become thane in all cities, own property, become mast of different guilds, and much more. Your fame boosts your abilities and connections, which can help not only your gameplay, but your self-esteem.
My friends and I spend hours talking about our personal games and adventures within Tamriel, the world of Skyrim and the Elder Scrolls Saga. We jest of funny occurrences, mourn the loss of loved characters, bicker about difficult journeys, and rank our accomplishments against each other. Skyrim has brought us together like Nathaniel Hawthorne’s fireplace, even though we strive to play more and more isolated. Skyrim gives us self-worth, unlimited personal and in-game goals, interactive gameplay, and new patches and updates all of the time to expand on those qualities more.
We interact with the universe as if we had another life away from this one. We can love, fight for what we believe in, or just explore. It is a sympathetic home within the home. In life, we love, become attached to morals, and live life to survive just like in Skyrim. This game has effectively modeled life outside of life and has touched and inspired the hearts of many people including myself.


And now... video adaptation!!! (Sorry it's a little over 4 minutes... 3:

A Class Review

This is a short review of two like papers in my class.

Visiativity wrote on the influences of Tomogachi, a small virtual pocket pet that was big in the 90's. My favorite part of the paper is when he talks about the advantages of a virtual pet when it does not require commitments.
"You interact with Tamagotchis as if it was a real human being, but you do not have to have any level of intimacy invested in them... These devices are perfect for individuals who seek companionship or the feeling of being wanted, but are too scared to achieve that. These devices cannot let you down, cannot hurt you, and cannot embarrass you, as real people can. They offer the illusion of companionship without the demands of friendship. What they provide, not only entertains us, but it meets our human vulnerabilities."
The creators of such devices were truly working to create a perfect toy for kids; a device to give attention and love, one that can imitate life yet require less responsibility for it. This greatly reflects Turkle's isolation-like thinking as we indulge ourselves in such machines.


Brandon has not posted his paper as of yet, so I read Nick's. He generalizes all virtual toys, specifically focusing on Nintendogs. He goes to state that, "It is my belief that as a society we need to educate the youth on what is reality, and furthermore, we must impose boundaries between man and technology." His paper tries to inform us that such toys are inadequate for teaching our younger generations how to properly care for living beings and possibly our own emotions. It is his hope that people will grow to depend on each other more and less on technology as Sherry Turkle stresses.

Empathizing the Epic RPG

Empathizing the Epic RPG By Rebekah Minkiewicz


When I was little, I was taught that for something to be considered “alive,” it must fit certain criteria that scientists have conceived to match all living creatures to survive. In basic elementary school knowledge, they were simplified as having to eat, needing to breathe, requiring shelter, and the ability to have children. Although we are taught inaccurate basics to life when we are little, the introduction lead us to understand that living things require much more depending on the individual.
Later, we grow to be more independent beings, living souls with separate goals and different natures. To “live” is redefined in us as what we strive for, to live for intellectual connections, enjoyment, and purpose. This can range from having a family to gambling for hours to earning a Nobel prize. But today, I have noticed that in our generation, we crave attention in order to “live” and survive. We make blogs, videos, and other cybernetic media hoping that an individual soul out there is listening. But why would you go through the trouble of having a tumblr when you’re not sure who’s listening when you can have a life-long companion that will always listen?
Whether you consider them friends, family, or pets, robotic or internet-based animals have been a great impact on my generation. They taught us responsibility, but limited our love and attention spans to them. Although they could never breathe or require intensive care, dolls and animals have been programmed to listen, communicate, love, and be loved. We can play with them, feed them, fight them, and even care for them.
Although I would love to be nostalgic and sympathetic through focusing this paper on gigapets, neopets, or other devices that have impacted my sensitivity for living or non-living creatures, I believe I should talk about the most profound technology that I believe has adapted to resembling life and care within many youth my age. This is a game known as a “RPG” (“role playing game”) where you, the main character, has a major objective and ultimately plays a protagonist role. The game of which I speak of has created a very life-like universe that modifies completely based on every action you take with in-depth storylines and random encounters to enrich the gameplay. Because of this complex technology, many players (including myself) have spent hundreds of hours exploring the possibilities, yet to complete every outcome available. However, while I try to learn this game’s depth and storylines as much as I can, I can’t help but behave sympathetically to the NPC’s (non-player-computers, most identifiable as humanoid program-based icons). This game is Elder Scrolls V, commonly known as Skyrim.
Game Informer, a top-line gaming magazine, does the honor of outlining the superior aspects of this game. In an extensive review from a 2011 issue, they judged the game not only from its visual appeal and plotline, but most of all the life-like reality contained within. USA Today gave it 4 stars. G4TV named it “one of the greatest games ever.” Why is this? The back of the cover puts it plainly, not focusing on the story, advanced gameplay, or abilities.
“Skyrim reimagines and revolutionizes the open-world fantasy epic, bringing to life a complete virtual world open for you to explore any way you choose. The legendary freedom of choice, storytelling, and adventure of The Elder Scrolls is realized like never before.”
I relate these acclimations to Sherry Turkle’s book Alone Together, where she discusses the effectiveness on a robot or program on the self. On page 69, she states,
“In the robotic moment, what you are made of-silicone, metal, flesh-pales in comparison with how you behave. In any given circumstance, some people and some robots are competent and some not. Like people, any particular robot needs to be judge on its own merits.”
Skyrim lets me be a hero or a villain. It allows me to grow in any way I wish, conquer or aid, and even marry. I can kill those that annoy me or gift to charity. Each affect has consequences and reactions of which are profoundly similar to our world, many so indirect and well-crafted in plot that it astounds me. Hundreds of small stories are scattered within the universe’s plotline, each one involving an interest. For each small story, we become attached to secondary characters as if they were living.
In the beginning of a story, a man helps you escape a dragon attack and takes you to his family who gives you aid and items to help you begin the storyline. Even this little family, which many people forget later on, has an affect on me. Their “kindness” and “family ties” draw me to empathize with them and their poverty. They have given to me, or my character, what they cannot afford to give away. Because of this, I spent quite a while reloading my game when a dragon attacked their city and the father of the family kept dying.
After I was able to kill the dragon without the father dying, I sat back and noticed how effective this game was. I spent over an hour trying to complete the impossible just because I could not handle playing in a world where this unimportant, loving character died. I am given thanks for helping those, notoriety when I complete tasks, attention for saving people, and infamy for carrying out dark tasks.
On page 192, Turkle speaks of her conversation with Audrey as she talks about her experiences with online media. One of them is called Second Life, where one creates an avatar and tries to construct a life with online interactions. She says by creating an avatar and completing achievements, we can have a better sense of self, a higher self-esteem and self-worth. In Skyrim, we personalize our character from race, gender, facial features, body type, color, war paint and more to fit our aesthetic pleasures. It reflects a part of who we are, just like in Audrey’s world of Second Life. Play Station, as well as many other current game stations, awards “achievements” or “trophies” for completing an unusual aspect of each game, such as collecting certain items, reaching maximum level and so on. Not only do players try to collect these as a personal game, but we can judge ourselves against each other in network ranks as if we accomplished something more.
Within the game Skyrim, you can also achieve titles, awards, and much more to boost the fame and importance of your character. You are a hero naturally, but you can become thane in all cities, own property, become master of different guilds, and much more. Your fame boosts your abilities and connections, which can help not only your gameplay, but your self-esteem.
My friends and I spend hours talking about our personal games and adventures within the world of Tamriel, the world of Skyrim. We jest of funny occurances, mourn the loss of loved characters, bicker about difficult journeys, and rank our accomplishments against each other. Skyrim has brought us together like Nathaniel Hawthorne’s fireplace, even though we strive to play more and more. Skyrim gives us self-worth, unlimited personal and in-game goals, interactive gameplay, and new patches and updates all of the time.
We interact in this universe as if we had another life away from this one. We can love, fight for what we believe in, or just explore. It is a sympathetic home within the home. In life, we love, become attached to morals, and live life to survive just like in Skyrim. This game has effectively modeled life outside of life and has touched and inspired the hearts of many people including myself.

Here are some interesting media you might enjoy on Skyrim.













Google search on Skyrim cosplay/costumes: https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sugexp=les%3Bcesh&tok=Ktbn3-99fTKEU3wvQ3ZgyQ&cp=10&gs_id=fo&xhr=t&q=skyrim+cosplay&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bpcl=35277026&biw=1920&bih=951&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=Z5x9UMPgLo6k8AS9nYHwCQ Inspired Fan Art: http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/093/b/3/tesv__skyrim___fan_art_by_bakirasan-d4i2jy8.jpg

Revised Writing Assignment

When I go home, I exhale a sigh of relief. The day is over. My locked joints clunk over to the usual spot, and like habit, pick up the computer. I open it, click Firefox, and type in the url box “f-a-(down)-(enter)” to find myself on Facebook only realizing I was meaning to come on to check my school email. I have become the robot of Nicholas Carr. It’s been months of brutal summer since I could hang out with my friends, my closest friends. The ritual goes that we normally have lunch together or hang out at someone’s place for a night to watch a show or play (usually card games, video games, or board games). However, no matter how social or antisocial someone is, someone always ends up on the computer or his or her phone. And, like the cycle of dominos, one feels the chance to escape the awkward situation and return to something they know and love, the Internet. Another feels social anxiety and turns to that comfort of familiarity as well. The fourth, usually me, gets bored and annoyed and continues with the trend until all of us are on our phones or computers, not saying a word to each other, just as Hawthorne foretold with the coming of the diabolical iron heating stove. Nathaniel Hawthorne reflected upon the loss of family and human connection through the outdating of the fireplace in his essay “Fire-Worship.” Forests would suffer as families and friends gayly chat around a single heated room through the winter, while stoves heated the entire house for less wood at the cost of dividing the people of the home. We used to eat at the kitchen table, but now we run online to hear the news of the world, our friends, and others. I’ve seen the effects of the Internet on my friends in a wide spectrum. Some go nowhere without their ipad. Some take their book bag wherever they go just to have their laptop, like an infant with a teddy bear. It’s hard not to sound condescending, but I too am addicted as well. Who wouldn’t love to reach the endless horizons of your curiosity and imagination in seconds? From the Internet, I have learned how to cook special meals, the origins of the mythical beast the Kirin, and how to create an efficient rogue for Dungeons and Dragons. All of these things have inspired my intellect. Looking for things to learn and know is not the only way to learn on the Internet. Sometimes, we stumble upon images or videos that catalyze our creativity and teach us about ourselves, what we love and who we’re like. On the downside, this exploration can take hours and hours out of someone’s day while hindering our practice of social customs. For example, the more we use social interaction sites such as Facebook, dating sites, and applications such as aim, we become more socially illiterate. Most of my friends don’t use their phones except for texting or the Internet, even in an emergency. People would rather talk online than in face-to-face, which is faster and more efficient. On the other side, I can see how talking in the form of writing can give us more time to think and articulate those thoughts, but while being on a computing device of some sort, one can get easily distracted and finish a 30-minute conversation in person in 5 hours online. However, the Internet is a very efficient and useful tool. Without the Internet, my teachers would give us paper copies of all our assignment outlines. With nearly twenty thousand people on campus and estimating around a 2-page syllabus for at least 4 classes, that would be 160,000 pages of paper minimum on the first day of everyone’s class. Emergency emails are sent out in a flash. Articles and videos relevant for our class can be shown in class and easily shared outside of class. Assignments can even be turned in online. One of the greatest learning resources for writing papers (aside from Wikipedia as many believe…) is the library web page. You can look up books in the card catalog in seconds, browse through the several themed article databases the university has subscribed to, and even reserve books that have been checked out. Rooms can also be reserved for studying and group meetings. Physically writing has been a daunting task though. Finding the motivation to write when I know it will take me so much longer to spill my thoughts is difficult. When I help correct papers for my friends, I keep finding “u” and “&” in their written responses. I don’t keep a journal anymore. I find it hard to keep track of dates because I hate writing in my agenda, and I forget it exists. My attention span has been cut so short that I use “control+f” to scan and find keywords in the article I need research from. I use short reading I learned in grade school by reading the first and/or last sentences from every paragraph to get the basic idea. Even if I’m fully entranced in something I’m reading, I always find distractions or impatience. I want that information then and there, switched on and off like the nodes of a computer chip. Previously I mentioned Nicholas Carr, a writer for the Atlantic. In his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Carr suggests that the Internet is switching the roles of man and machine between our screens and us. One thing I find I can really relate to is learning bots, a program design I have been trying to learn to create. CleverBot, a controversial robot ai created by Google, is a learning machine with synthetic intellect created to learn and remember what every user inputs within its memory simply by making conversation. As many try to disprove the validity of the ai, we become so focused on that goal that we are like robots while we input more information into the Cleverbot, coincidentally becoming more human as we try harder to disprove its humanity. However, the Internet is full of useful devices such as hyperlinks. A genius much before his time, Vannevar Bush described a machine he intended to expedite the growth of the scientific community by using the ability to link data and write notes about it. He also devised a way to compress text, search for it easily, and input new text using microfilm. Today, we can create all of those things at any age for any purpose. If I could meet him today, I would gladly welcome him to the wonder of the Internet! My group projects are made super-easy with Google docs, search engines for information, and more, all predicted by Vannevar. The Internet is a useful device, but it does come at a cost of some sort of indescribable human element. However, I’ve learned to take more than lose from the Internet. I don’t believe I’m less of a human to sacrifice my attention span for more fun and efficiency.

Technologic.

For our homework, we're supposed to create either a video, screencast, or web site. Since I've already made videos and web sites before, I decided to make a screencast. One of my favorite artists, Christ Newman, screencasts drawing his pieces live at this site >>HERE<< , so I wanted to try it out for myself. Unfortunately, pieces of the video got corrupted so I had to start my sketching from the middle of the piece. UPDATE- Had to redo the screencast again... This time I found out quickplayer does it on macs for as long as you want. o.0 Just edited it in imovie. :3


This is a pretty long (15 minute) Japanese project I did with some friends earlier this year done with imovie. For some reason Youtube won't let me upload it so I'm linking it from where it was posted on facebook- but the code to let it go fullscreen won't work. v.v



And here are some other things I keep forgetting to show you guys.

This is a concept video called "Kara" by the company Quantic Dream. DON'T CRY. I DARE YOU. It's really interesting that the human's actions is displayed through the robotic arms while the robot is more human than he is... >.>


This is Cleverbot, done by google, an AI designed to learn and act as a human (and sometimes tries to convince you that you are the robot while you disprove its existence...) When there are a lot of people on the server, he or she sounds less human though... so it's hard to have a good conversation once in a while.
>>LINK<<


Here's another robot, and anime-based one a fan made. I think the programming is much more simple, and since there are fewer users on it you can have a better conversation, plus the memory is cleared once in a while and the code constantly updated.
>>LINK<<


And finally, Hatsune Miku, a ONE-HUNDRED-PERCENT COMPUTER-DESIGNED SINGER. She's a 3D hologram with a -completely- synthesized, understandable (Japanese) singing voice. There's an entire group of characters done by the same creators.


Put them all together and think of the possibilities... o.o

...

iRobot

When I go home, I exhale a sigh of relief. The day is over. My locked joints clunk over to the usual spot, and like habit, pick up the computer. I open it, click firefox, and type in the url box “f-a-(down)-(enter)” to find myself on facebook only realizing I was meaning to come on to check my school email. I have become the robot of Nicholas Carr. It’s been months of brutal summer since I could hang out with my friends, my closest friends. The ritual goes that we normally have lunch together or hang out at someone’s place for a night to watch a show or play (usually card games, video games, or board games). However, no matter how social or antisocial someone is, someone always ends up on the computer or his or her phone. And, like the cycle of dominos, one feels the chance to escape the awkward situation and return to something they know and love, the Internet. Another feels social anxiety and turns to that comfort of familiarity as well. The fourth, usually me, gets bored and annoyed and continues with the trend until all of us are on our phones or computers, not saying a word to each other, just as Hawthorne foretold with the coming of the diabolical iron heating stove. Oh no! I’ve seen the effects of the Internet on my friends in a wide spectrum. Some go nowhere without their ipad. Some take their book bag wherever they go just to have their laptop, like an infant with a teddy bear. It’s hard not to sound condescending, but I too am addicted as well. Who wouldn’t love to reach the endless horizons of your curiosity and imagination in seconds? From the internet, I have learned how to cook special meals, the origins of the mythical beast the Kirin, and how to create an efficient rogue for Dungeons and Dragons. All of these things have inspired my intellect. Looking for things to learn and know is not the only way to learn on the internet. Sometimes, we stumble upon images or videos that catalyze our creativity and teach us about ourselves, what we love and who we’re like. On the downside, this exploration can take hours and hours out of someone’s day while hindering our practice of social customs. For example, the more we use social interaction sites such as facebook, dating sites, and applications such as aim, we become more socially illiterate. Most of my friends don’t use their phones except for texting or the internet, even in an emergency. People would rather talk online than in face-to-face, which is faster and more efficient. On the other side, I can see how talking in the form of writing can give us more time to think and articulate those thoughts, but while being on a computing device of some sort, one can get easily distracted and finish a 30-minute conversation in person in 5 hours online. However, the internet is a very efficient and useful tool. Without the internet, my teachers would give us paper copies of all our assignment outlines. With nearly twenty-thousand people on campus and estimating around a 2-page syllabus for at least 4 classes, that would be 160,000 pages of paper minimum on the first day of everyone’s class. Emergency emails are sent out in a flash. Articles and videos relevant for our class can be shown in class and easily shared outside of class. Assignments can even be turned in online. One of the greatest learning resources for writing papers (aside from Wikipedia as many believe…) is the library web page. You can look up books in the card catalog in seconds, browse through the several themed article databases the university has subscribed to, and even reserve books that have been checked out. Rooms can also be reserved for studying and group meetings. Physically writing has been a daunting task though. Finding the motivation to write when I know it will take me so much longer to spill my thoughts is difficult. When I help correct papers for my friends, I keep finding “u” and “&” in their written responses. I don’t keep a journal anymore. I find it hard to keep track of dates because I hate writing in my agenda, and I forget it exists. My attention span has been cut so short that I use “control+f” to scan and find keywords in the article I need research from. I use short reading I learned in grade school by reading the first and/or last sentences from every paragraph to get the basic idea. Even if I’m fully entranced in something I’m reading, I always find distractions or impatience. I want that information then and there, switched on and off like the nodes of a computer chip. Previously I mentioned Nicholas Carr, a writer for the Atlantic. In his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?,” Carr suggests that the internet is switching the roles of man and machine between us and our screens. One thing I find I can really relate to is learning bots, a program design I have been trying to learn to create. GoogleBot, a controversial robot, is a learning machine with synthetic intellect created to learn and remember what every user inputs within its memory simply by making conversation. As many try to disprove the validity of the ai, we become so focused on that goal that we are like robots while we input more information into the Googlebot, coincidentally becoming more human as we try harder to disprove its humanity. However, the internet is full of useful devices such as hyperlinks. A genius much before his time. Vannevar Bush described a machine he intended to expedite the growth of the scientific community by using the ability to link data and write notes about it. He also devised a way to compress text, search for it easily, and input new text using microfilm. Today, we can create all of those things at any age for any purpose. If I could meet him today, I would gladly welcome him to the wonder of the internet! My group projects are made super-easy with Google docs, search engines for information, and more, all predicted by Vannevar. The Internet is a useful device, but it does come at a cost of some sort of indescribable human element. However, I’ve learned to take more than lose from the internet. I don’t believe I’m less of a human to sacrifice my attention span for more fun and efficiency. We're supposed to post media for this paper... but I'm honestly not sure what to put up. Everything is so "in the mind" it's hard to contemplate what to express it with visually. :/