Second life? get a life

I can find a lot of things that are wrong with Second Life. Especially when people don't spend enough time in the real world and get lost in their created fantasy land, or island. The WSJ (8/10/07) found the perfect specimen.

Take Ric Hoogestraat, who is married to Sue and works at a call center in the Phoenix area but spends 30-plus hours a week inside the online Second Life video game, pretending that he is the digitally drawn Dutch Hoorenbeek, a 6-foot-9, muscular babe magnet who lives on his own island.

That unnerves Sue, especially since Dutch recently "married" a digital woman and set up housekeeping with their two digital dogs. (The real-life creator of the new Mrs. Hoorenbeek has never met Ric and says she never will.)

Dutch and his online wife spend hours shopping and motorcycling together, leaving Ric little time for real-life wife Sue. "Is this man cheating on his wife (meaning Sue)?" the Journal asked. Sue says: "You try to talk to (Ric) or bring (him) a drink, and (he)'ll be having sex with a cartoon."

Google Earth’s Hidden Surprise: A Flight Simulator

Hidden inside Google Earth is a secret Flight Simulator that takes full advantage of Google’s extensive satellite imagery.

To access the hidden feature, open Google Earth and hit Command+Option+A (note it must be capital A) or Ctrl+Alt+A if you’re using a Windows Machine.

The Google Earth Flight Simulator comes with two aircraft options, a F16 Viper and the more manageable SR22 4 seater. Players have the option of commencing the game from their current location in Google Earth or can pick from a list of pre-determined runways. Control instructions can be found here.

Overall the game play is fairly simple in terms of control, but the striking difference is flying over real pictures of locations. I took a quick flight from San Francisco International, headed North to the Golden Gate then turn back over the city before heading towards the Valley. It wasn’t perfect, but it was as good visually as the paid Microsoft Flight Simulator, and in terms of actually presenting real objects it was better.

Thanks to Marco for the how-to.

Aug.3 blog entry

What should be done about text-speak.

Has the Web changed the English language?

By ALDO NAHED
The Web has it's own code of language, or "text-speak," (text messaging and Internet chat language) - such as "btw" instead of "by the way," and "4" instead of "for." But has this new speak changed the English language?

What many language purists fear is that text-speak "txtspk" is ruining the English language and sipping into our school system.

Students in New Zealand can now use text-speak on national exams, according to a ruling by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.

Are we dumbing down language? I think it's adaptation. Not only to the new gadgets, but to the now.

It's better to embrace this text-speak language. Not only so you're not left out of the loop, but also because you're learning new ways of communicating. It's important to cultivate proper grammar, but it's also important to be able to understand each other.

More links you may find interesting:

> A newspaper editor is assassinated in Oakland (CNN)

> Video Game Lets Players Be Immigrants (ABC NEWS)
A new video game called "ICED!" invites players to step into the shoes of foreigners who run afoul of the U.S. immigration system. It is part of a burgeoning genre of video games that examine major social and policy issues such as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the situation in Darfur and the Electoral College.

> Can government mandate breatfeeding?
In New York City government's new program to promote breastfeeding. As part of this program, all formula, bottles, and promotional materials from formula companies are being removed from the 11 public hospitals in New York City.