Tuesday, December 8, 2009

The House of Usher

The year is 1847, and I have just arrived at the House of Usher with my two friends, Meghan and Jordan. We were afraid to enter the house at first because it was dark and creepy looking. I felt as if I was going into a haunted mansion on Halloween since the house screamed trouble.

Once we walked inside we were greeted by Roderick, Madeline, and Margaret. Roderick, who looked like Professor Snape from Harry Potter, offered to give us a tour of the house. I immediately separated from the group and went to look for clues in the house as to what Roderick and Madeline have been doing, since it was my task. First, I went upstairs and looked in all the bedrooms. I found a clue written by Roderick on his desk about how he thought Madeline might be hiding something from him. I wasn't sure how this would have helped me or what exactly is meant since she denied hiding anything from him. Margaret told me that they don't hide anything from each other and they have a special bond. I also found a bookmark in a text on medicine about hypochondriasis, which helped since then I knew that Roderick must have been faking his symptoms. In one of the rooms I found a gun, however, it wasn't loaded nor could it be shot. On one of the beds, I found a map of the cellar, but I never used it. Lastly, I found a note in Roderick's handwriting about choral hydrate and chloroform.

After I was done looking for clues, I went to go help my friends who were with Roderick and Madeline. Jordan was with Madeline, and she was trying to convince Madeline not to take the medicine and rest. Madeline kept talking about the voices she was hearing and how she wanted them to stop. We told her that we would stop the voices, and we tried to convince her to leave the house. However, it was hard since she didn't want to leave. At one point, Madeline faints, and we put her to bed. Jordan made sure to stand in the room to watch that she did not go anywhere. While this was going on, Meghan was distracting Roderick. Roderick talked about how they were going to die and how they both were sick. We tried to convince Roderick to bring her to the doctor, but this did not work since Roderick did not trust the doctor and his motives. While Madeline is resting, I was in a different room talking to Margaret. Jordan told me that Madeline disappeared from the bed she is, and I knew then that she must have been down in the crypt. I ran down to the crypt, and got a little lost while I was down there. I remembered being told that there was three floors to it, so I had to keep running around until I found it. When I got there, Roderick was there and Madeline was in the coffin. I knew I needed help convincing him that she was alive, so I yelled to my friends to come help. I guess my convincing was doing much since Roderick actually laid inside a coffin. I kept telling him that Madeline is alive, her cheeks were flushed, and her heart was beating. When he got out of the coffin he went over to her, and she was still lying inside. Jordan kept opening the top of the coffin so we could see her, and I eventually stood on her, which got her to wake up. Once she woke up she was confused as to why she was resting in the coffin. She thought that we placed her there, so we had to tell her we were trustworthy and would never do that to a friend. She believed us and eventually followed us out of the house. I would say that our plan was a success. We were able to convince Roderick that she was alive, and no one died.

Personally, I do not think the clues helped me in saving Roderick and Madeline. However, I do want to go back and see if I missed anything important. The clues that I found were easy to find, one wouldn't have to search forever to find one. I do not think they should be moved since the spots they were found in would make sense. For example, I found the notes on his desk.

Also, Iggy did a great job on the special effects since they actually started creeping me out also. The actors did a great job, they stayed in character the whole time. I felt as if I was really in the story the way the house looked to the way the actors were. The furniture and set up in the house was also great since it was all from that era. The rats were my favorite part of the house along with the spider webs since when I picture an old decrepit house they would most likely be present.

As for changing anything for next semester, I would think about Margaret playing a bigger role. I felt as if she didn't really have a part in the story except for telling Madeline that she should rest. Other then that, I believe everything looks great!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

The End Is Near

I have one more day of class left. It seems hard to believe that the semester has gone that fast. I remember my first day of class because in my mind I was thinking "He seriously wants us to play a game? Really? This sounds insanely creepy, who does this!? Get me out now." I never did leave despite my premature feelings for Second Life. After listening to the description I came to the conclusion that it was going to be boring, strange to write on and definitely not as good as Facebook.

Now, four months later I am able to see how far my views have changed. I'll admit that it was boring for me in the beginning but I began to feel more comfortable talking to people and traveling to populated areas. I realized that if I had a friend to go with we both could laugh together at whatever we came across. I was a bit confused on how I was to write wikis on Second Life since I wasn't used to either. But I found out through my Gender Switch Project that the process of changing my appearance and writing about it was fun. It was without a doubt my favorite project. As for Second Life not being as good as Facebook, I can deal with that since Facebook is taking over the world ha.

Besides my feelings for Second Life changing, I also was also able to practice photography for FREE! I usually look up Second Life places in google to see what looks interesting. I enjoyed traveling around and taking pictures from different angles. Since I do not have time to actually go out and take pictures and develop them, I would travel somewhere that was different. In Second Life you can take pictures of anything you want, such as nature, architecture, and people. I was able to travel to Devils Moon, which resembles the movie Blade Runner. This visit was interesting since I had to watch the movie for Core last Sunday. Seeing a place in a movie and in virtual world was exciting since I felt like I was apart of the movie.
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I hope when the freshmen next year leave the class after the first day they don't prematurely judge Second Life and actually give it a try since there is much to be learned about virtual worlds because most people are oblivious to them.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Finally Fun In Second Life?

Up until now Second Life has been quite boring for me. I could never find people, I was shy when I found people, and no one talked to me. However, after doing the gender switch project I came to actually find myself laughing at things and talking to everyone. I realized I have nothing to be afraid of and that I had no reason to be shy. I found fun places, and now I even go with my classmates to places and we joke around.

I just went to the Junkyard Blues Club with Meghan and Caroline and we had so much fun. All three of us were in the library laughing each others avatars. I told Caroline she had a cheap ass weave and we just kept poking fun at each other.

After, when me and Meghan signed off I went to ask her a question and by accident I called her Jordin, her avatars name. It made me realize that I was so into Second Life at that time.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

House of Usher

If I were able to alter something in Poe's story I would either go for a more gruesome ending rather then a nice ending where the doctor is called to help. Since the house is mysterious, and feels evil I would make sure to pack a gun for my visit. This is for safety reasons and later on would be used to kill Madeline when she is at the door. Or I might have just shot her while she was in the tomb with her rosy cheeks. Since I already read the story I know that she is buried alive, so i would just be making sure that she is dead. I would be saving her since back then everyone was afraid of being buried alive, I would make sure she was dead. I'm aware that this ending isn't normal, but then again neither is Poe's writing.

However, I may have entered the house but not stayed as long as the narrator stayed. I would have brought both Roderick and Madeline to a doctor. Since the narrator did not know Roderick very well (he did not even know Roderick and Madeline were twins until later) then he should have left once he got a bad feeling around the house and Roderick started hearing things.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Got Problems?

I have a problem and it's that I can never find a group of people in Second Life. I can transport to over 10 places and never find an avatar. Why is this still happening to me? My avatar does not have swine so I'm not sure why I can't find anyone. Anyway, I had this great idea to transport to orientation island. It proved to be the best idea I've had since I found loads of avatars! I was so happy that my plan had worked out.

Just then, another problem occurred right when things were going well. I tried to fly over a step then all a sudden my avatar won't land and she keeps flying upwards as if God has some sort of gravitational pull on her. I flew up, up, and away until at one point i was so far in the sky and never coming down that I got frustrated and logged out of Second Life.

This isn't the first time that my avatar has done things when I'm not even commanding her to do so. For example, there will be times when I'm just walking straight and she walks then walks backward to where I started. Or she will just keep walking straight right through the buildings and not stop. It's possibly the most frustrating thing in Second Life besides not find any other avatars.


The Forgotten Blog Post

This September post was supposed to be on a question that I had about Second Life. Even though I am doing it months later, I still have the same question, which is how do people get addicted to Second Life? And what makes Second Life better then the other virtual worlds out there such as World of Warcraft, etc (Why do people play Second Life as opposed to other worlds) ?

Second Life reminds me of the Sims, however, I find the Sims to be more addicting. I haven't been able to use Second Life for a prolong period of time because I feel as if I have nothing to do. However, I do see how some people may play it since the world looks real and you can interact with people.

This leads me to a conclusion that people play Second Life to interact with others. I'm on the fence of what I concluded since now people are able to use facebook, twitter,myspace to connect with people. Therefore, maybe people are really enjoy meeting new people when they aren't themselves and also maybe they enjoy doing things they aren't able to do in real life.

I remember during the summer when my oldest brother and his fiance would play World of Warcraft. I had no concept of the game, nor did I care since I called them losers. Anyway, if I were to tell them about Second Life they would blow the idea away. To them, the idea of Second Life would most likely be ridiculous. But they are playing in a virtual world already so what's the difference? I realized they were playing World Of Warcraft for the fighting aspect. They weren't into the exploring and adventure that Second Life had to offer. From what I have experienced, Second Life does not have this gruesome fighting, which is not what I'm looking for. I would have played Second Life if my friends were on it and people more my age. However, if I was in an older age group I would use it to make connections and try new things.


Monday, November 2, 2009

Houston We've Got a Problem

The biggest problem Second Life faces as a communication technology is it's not as known as facebook, myspace, or twitter therefore it doesn't have as many users. Besides myspace, facebook and twitter are two new communication technologies that have become part of everyday use. Both are used by celebrities, connect people to friends and family, and even help for meeting new people. In Second Life, you are able to connect with people, however, from my experience it is difficult and seems impossible. Second Life seems to not have many users, therefore to me it kind of makes it boring since all you do is explore and take pictures.

Hopefully, in the near future it will become more popular. I cannot see it becoming as popular as facebook or twitter since those are easier to keep in touch with and meet people with.