Virtual World Scavenger Hunt

We are all done!! Yay.. 19 questions. =) So what have we learned? that Google is not the answer to all searches but very important place to start at. Secondly, the online world is very interesting and informative.

Scavenger Hunt

This scavenger hunt is going pretty well so far. Katie and i have answered 7 questions. This blog is technically part of number 9... and number 2 needs some work on it. Gtg and finish the rest so ttyl. =)

Virtual World

A virtual world according to Wikipedia is "is a computer-based simulated environment intended for its users to inhabit and interact via avatars." This blogging post should be talking about virtual worlds and if i were to travel to one where would i go. The question is where would I go? The answer is I don't know. I love the internet, using the computer, being able to find what I'm looking for, being able to interact with other people (friends) via email, Myspace etc. but virtual world is not my thing. I have no interest whatsoever in creating an avatar, wasting my life away online.

First of all what does a person gain from this virtual world? Besides if you think your so good at something why cant you do it in real life anyway? I also think that virtual worlds can change a person's psychology. If a person spends all their time online, in a virtual world shooting people, what makes you think that he will obtain from doing it in real life? The line between virtual and real for that person has already become gray. The only thing that is stopping that person is time. When a person spends so much time online, its the same as watching TV. When a person is involved in those activities they abstain from real relationships because they don't have time, they don't value real social relationships. These kinds of actions make them more social outcasts and then they have no choice but to recede into their virtual world.

I believe that there is much to be done to make my real world a better place and hiding in my mind or in a virtual society is not necessarily going to make it a better place. Another thing is that the people that you meet online act more differently then they would in real life do to the fact that they can remain anonymous. The people online could be felons or other weird people. They could be preying on you. They could be stalking you. There is no true way to know the motives of people. Basically abstaining from virtual worlds is in a way a form of self preservation.

There are many reasons that i don't like virtual worlds that are online, that involve aviators, etc. What kind of society are we going to have if the only way we communicated was online? Some people could say that it will be better... no killings, murders, shootings. Everyone would be too busy online. But killings, murders exist online as was written on the news recently. A young woman, killed her "ex-husbands" aviator. Humans are humans and their nature they take everywhere with them. I could go on and on but i believe you get the gist. I am against virtual worlds. Besides this could lead to an even faster rise in obesity then what we already see. Its better to live in the real world, a real life. If you don't like the person you are in the real world, then change. No one is stopping you but yourself, it only takes effort. The question is do you think that its worth the effort? I do.

The Northwest is an amazing place but the city of Tacoma is even more interesting. Even though it it is not known by many it is beloved by all. The citizens of Tacoma love their city and they have put it on the global map with Seattle and many other technological cities. How have they managed to do this? By blogging about it. The city has many bloggers that are unique to it. They have exit 133, they have Kevin Freitas and Feed Tacoma, they have Andrew Fry, TacomaMama and many others.

These people care about their city and their community. Kevin Freitas, a former student of PLU and a programmer has been blogging about his life since 1998... Now thats a lot of blogs!. He visited our Technology class and we had a wonderful time. He has also created a new blog center for the Tacomians ( my new word... LOl) it is called FeedTacoma. His blog is non-profit. It is for people that blog in Tacoma and it uses analog so that it does not consume the time of its developer and does not cost much to run besides the dedication of Kevin.

Feed Tacoma is a very clean and gleaming website because of the uniqueness of Tacomians. Tacomians are very close community wise, the people you see online, you will probably meet them in real life sooner or later. This website, contains events, discussions, shops, photos, video's. Shops? Did u say shops? Yes, in fact I did. The shops are virtual and store owners are allowed to advertise themselves and their products without a fee. Very awesome.

Tacomians are very resourceful and creative people as we can see in Kevin Freitas. So what will come next from these very resourceful, unique people? We can only guess.. :)

Finances via the internet

People like shiny new things. Many people like shopping and shopping via the internet is very convenient. You can shop while you are at your favorite coffee shop, on break at work or sitting on a bench at your favorite park. Shopping online saves you money, saves you time spent driving to and from the store and it lets you bargain a bit. If you find what you are looking for it is very convenient to pay online using PayPal or entering your credit card information.

Even though there is a danger associated with shopping online people still continue to shop. The question is: is the risk not great enough to outweigh efficiency? For many people the answer is no. Some people would say that they live in too of a remote area and they can’t find what they are searching for in their nearest stores at the same price. The efficiency of shopping online and having it shipped to your house is very high and it can’t be beat. Another refute would be that nothing has happened to me or to anyone else I know…Denial. Many people are in denial about what is going on and what might happen to them. They buy Northern Virus protection, encrypt their websites and they believe that they are all set.

A person who shops online can also ask you – how safe is it to give your credit/ debit card to an employee in any store. They still have your information after you leave the store, who knows what happens to it or who sees it?

Not only can u shop online you can also bank. While banking online you can transfer funds between your checking and savings account and between many other ones you have. It is also possible to buy stock online and buy pass the middle man-the broker. Stopping by the bank, waiting in line is a waste of time when they can do the same via the internet. Besides banking is not as personal as it was ten, fifteen years ago. Also banks have set hours and you can’t wait on them when you need money right away.

Internet is a technology that has become popular by word of mouth and has become integrated very suddenly into the lives of many people. Being able to use this technology is a mark of a modern man and has also become very addictive. Convenience, saving time is very honored in our society and that is why despite the danger associated with using the internet for purchases it continues. It is the disease of the modern man. Money is the name of the game. It is the driving force of technology.

Hilltop.. of Tacoma

In My perspective On Service class we have had a few field trips and a variety of guest speakers. Yesterday we had a guest speaker named Jean and she talked about the change that resulted in her area. The area was was a drug selling place. There were 33 houses and 3 of them were drug houses that ruined the whole appeal of the neighborhood. A nice Victorian house whose value is half a million dollars was selling for 33,000. Now that is very very bad. The neighborhood was filled with shootings all the time... but no one actually got shot... LOL.. cause the gangsters didnt know how to shoot...

When she moved into that neighborhood for financial and housing reasons.. No one was standing up for the neighborhood.. to the druggies that meant that no one cared... Neighbors didn't know their neighbors... so how could they stand up... Some of the druggies lived with their parents and those either denied that their children were doing drugs or ignored it because of fear...

Jean coming from a small city in Montana decided to bake bread and get to know her neighbors... They probably thought she was wacky... but that's not the point.. LOl... The point is that she got to know her neighbors and they helped her and she helped them.

Getting rid of drug dealers is not easy...Especially the Crips.The Crips are one of the largest and most violent associations of street gangs in the United states. They believed that they have power because they had oozies- M16 or AK47. Calling the cops did not help much either cause at that time they had guns that were small and uneffective. There were 32 gangsters and 2 cops would show up.. not a fair fight.

The thing that causes neighboor hoods to be run over with drug users- in this case crack users, a different form of cockaine is that the neighborhood was run down and in some ways neglected. There were abondoned houses that the drug dealers could use.Hilltop was a center for lawlessness thanks in no small part to absentee landlords who had neglected their properties. But all that started to change.Business leaders, residents and the city organized and launched a project to buy property, renovate rundown homes and build new ones, selling them to low-income people interested in becoming first-time homeowners.

This created change that propelled more change and finally kicked out most of the druggies.
The reason why this was effective is kind of explained by the " broken window theory-if the first broken window in a building is not repaired, then people who like breaking windows will assume that no one cares about the building and more windows will be broken. Soon the building will have no windows...."

The moral of this story is take care of your neighborhood. When everything will be in its proper place drug addicts will have no place there. Community is also very important. Know your neighbors. Become a mentor to a child. =)

Did You Know? Bagels

The bagel is the only bread product that is boiled before it is baked. That's what gives the bagel its unique texture and the crust its characteristic shine.

Legend has it that in 1683 in Vienna, Austria, a local Jewish baker wanted to thank the king of Poland for protecting his countrymen from Turkish invaders. He made a special hard roll in the shape of a riding stirrup-Bugel in German - commemorating the king's favorite pastime and giving the bagel its distinct shape.

As bagels gained popularity in Poland, they were officially sanctioned as gifts for women in childbirth and mentioned in community registers. Mothers used them as nutritious teething rings that their infants could easily grasp - a practice still popular today.

Bagels eventually made their way to Russia, where they were called bubliki and were sold on strings. Like other ring-shaped objects, they were said to bring good luck and possess magical powers. It is even said that songs were sung about bagels! ( The Kitchen Project)