Jamilah's Life in IST... Watch Me Work

Here is a link to the I love New York 2 blog
http://celebrealityblog.vh1.com/2007/09/meet-new-yorks-.html

Here is a link to an article about blogs
http://news.com.com/As+teens+embrace+blogs,+schools+sound+an+alarm/2100-1025_3-5952141.html

This isn’t my homework but I started this as my homework then realized that it didn't meet the requirements. However, I want to study Abroad in Egypt so I'll post about this blog anyway. Extra Credit maybe...LOL

I chose to read Alyssa's blog about her current study abroad in Egypt.
Alyssa goes to Egypt

Alyssa is from San Diego, California and flew to Egypt of August 14, 2007 for a study abroad program at the American University of Cairo. She had many strange experiences in Cairo, Egypt.

She really wants to embrace the culture but everyone in her dorm spoke English all day long.

My current culture conflict is that I don't actually feel like I'm in the culture. I'm in a school dorm now, among Americans who are constantly speaking English (crazy, I know) and I feel very far from the locals their language and their culture that I am supposed to be here to learn about. But I have made friends with a very sweet grandma and I plan to go visit her soon! My first non-sketchy Egyptian friend! alhamduallah!

She was concerned about the myths about Islamic culture.

It's confusing yet fascinating to see the paradox that is the life of many people here. (Granted this is mostly speculation and generalities, you cannot leave out the fact that there are many exceptions to what appears to be the norm.) I may have talked about this before, but you see girls walking through town covered head to toe, yet in the latest fashion, and in very tight clothing. Or the women draped in black cloth with only their eyes showing - they walk into a club and it all comes off, revealing a much more skin baring outfit. Some of the men have a callous on their forehead to show how pious they are - supposedly the callous is from the carpet that they pray on five times a day. But we have seen men with this who are obviously not old enough to have prayed enough to have this callous, therefore the conclusion I come to is that it is just for status. Also, evidentially it is either illegal or very frowned upon to have sex before marriage, or even to show any public displays of affection, or even to be alone with a guy - my guy friend and I were walking around one day, and Oh the disapproving looks I got! - then you step inside a restaurant and you see a prostitute, or just behind the school walls you see a couple just going at it with the PDA. I'm not saying that we in America don't do the exact same thing, have one face for the public and then are something completely different, though in different aspects of life than here.

She hates the cat calling.

Now, for us the game is to blend in, cross the street like an Egyptian, barter unwaveringly like an Egyptian, cover our heads like an Egyptian; this is a game I fail every single day. As some friends and I walk around town my friends get double takes, but then it's decided that they could be Egyptian...until they see me.

"howdy! hello, how are you? very beautiful, you want Egyptian husband? you have boyfriend? come home with me. baby how much for you?" and many more lines they have learned over the years.

The first day it was somewhat amusing, the second day we laughed after we were a safe distance away, today it makes me want to punch them. You see the Lebanese 'MTV' on in every restaurant, and the American shows translated into Arabic, and you know why they think we're all prostitutes. But it still wears on you. We've tried everything, covering our heads, wearing very conservative clothing, but for me, even if i wore an entire berkah (sp?) they would still see my blue eyes, and then I would hear "hallo" followed by a cat-call comment in Arabic.

Her experiences really make me want to explore my option of studying abroad. I think I would fit in a little better...LOL

To learn more about study abroad go to http://www.international.psu.edu or http://www.studyabroad.com.

Please Join us on September 20th us as we wear Black to show our support for the Jena 6. For more info check out the web sites at the bottom of the page.

On August 31, 2006 at Jena High School in Jena, Louisiana a small group of black students asked if they could sit under a tree on the traditionally white side of the Jena High School square [why would they even feel the need to ask? it seems strange to me that these kids are conditioned to think they had to ask to sit under a public tree]. The students were 'granted' permission, and proceeded to sit under the tree. On the following day, three nooses [for those who don't know, nooses are ropes with the loop tied on the end of it--used to hang folks] were found hanging from the tree in which the black students were sitting under. Throughout the semester, tension around the school began to mount as a result of the incident. Both parents and students staged protests, but the city's concern was mainly to keep everyone [the black students] 'calm' threatening to "...make their lives disappear with the stroke of a pen." Racial incidents continued to occur in the town of Jena.

In one incident, a black student was assaulted by a white adult as he entered a predominantly white party. After being struck in the face without warning, the young black student was assaulted by white students wielding beer bottles and was punched and kicked before adults broke up the fight. It has been reported that the white assailant who threw the first punch was subsequently charged with simple battery (a misdemeanor), but there is no documentary evidence that anyone was charged [are we surprised by this?]. Shortly after the lunch hour of Monday, December 4, 2006, a fight between a white student and a black student reportedly ended with the white student (Justin Barker, later arrested for having a rifle with 13 bullets in his truck in the school parking lot) being knocked to the floor. Several black students reportedly attacked the white student as he lay unconscious. Because the incident took place in a crowded area and was over in a matter of seconds eye witness accounts vary widely. Written statements from students closest to the scene (in space and time) suggest that the incident was sparked by an angry exchange in the gymnasium moments before in which the black student assaulted at the party was taunted for having his "ass whipped". Within an hour of the fight, six black students were arrested and charged with second-degree attempted murder. Bail was set so high -- between $70,000 and $138,000 -- that the boys were left in prison for months as families went deep into debt to release them.

Mychael Bell, the first to be tried, was originally facing 80 years imprisonment, which has since been dropped to 22 years when he was convicted in June 2007. Mychael Bell will be sentenced on September 20, 2007. The other five students are still awaiting trial.If I am not mistaken, Theodore Shaw will be next to be on trial. I do not know when his trial will begain but I intend on finding out. Because I want to help to organize a rally of some sort to support him in this situation.

ON SEPTEMBER 20, 2007 MYCHAEL BELL WILL BE SENTENCED.

Please Join us on September 20th us as we wear Black to show our support for the Jena 6. For more info here are a couple of sites to check out:

http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/main.html
http://www.minglecity.com/jenasix/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuoiZnr4jLY

As soon as I looked at the title of this reading assignment, I thought it was going to be about MySpace and Facebook. As I read, I realized the difference between Social Networking and Social Networks. Unlike social networking, a social network "focuses on how the structure of ties affects individuals and their relationships".

I never knew where the six degrees experiment came from. I see this on TV all the time.

The small world phenomenon is the hypothesis that the chain of social acquaintances required to connect one arbitrary person to another arbitrary person anywhere in the world is generally short. The concept gave rise to the famous phrase six degrees of separation after a 1967 small world experiment by psychologist Stanley Milgram. In Milgram's experiment, a sample of US individuals were asked to reach a particular target person by passing a message along a chain of acquaintances. The average length of successful chains turned out to be about five intermediaries or six separation steps (the majority of chains in that study actually failed to complete). Academic researchers continue to explore this phenomenon. Judith Kleinfeld has written an article[7] that points out the many problems with the original Milgram research. A recent electronic Small World experiment[8] at Columbia University showed that about five to seven degrees of separation are sufficient for connecting any two people through e-mail.

Here are a few links to six degree type sites.

PBS.com has a six degree game on the American Masters

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon

http://www.swiss.ai.mit.edu/6095/student-papers/fall05-papers/facebook.pdf
http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Teens_Privacy_SNS_Report_Final.pdf

I recently worked on a project where I compared and contrasted the information shared on Facebook and MySpace. On Facebook, 80% of users in college disclose which dorm they live in and 84% of High School users disclose which school they attend. For the most part, this is expected. The reason people are on Facebook is to network socially. If user A knows that user B goes to University of Miami, he/she is more likely to network with them user B. 70% posts their AIM screen name and 25.6% post their phone number. On a user to user perspective, this is normal because if someone who can see my profile needs to contact me, I want them to be able to without difficulty. But from a parent’s perspective, this is not okay. I would not want anyone from “the internet” calling my child’s cell phone. 81% disclose which school clubs they are in. Again, this is another way of connecting to people who have something in common with you. On the other hand, this lets harmful people know where you will most likely be after school. Facebookers disclose a massive amount of personal information in order to network. If they didn’t, there would be no use for Facebook.

On MySpace, 82% of users post their first name and 29% include their last name. This is not what I would have expected because MySpace users tend to be more ambiguous. Users names tend to convey the current mood of the user such as: “uR N3w GuRl will N3V3R B L1Ke M3” or “RIP Teddy…we will always love U”. As times have changed more users want others to know their real names. 49% include their school's name and 61% post their city or town. Again, this is the same as Facebookers; people network with others they have something in common with. 79% post pictures of themselves and 29% post videos of themselves. I truly thought this percentage would be greater only because there are 1042 pictures of me on Facebook. Maybe some users don’t like pictures. MySpacers reveal just about the same amount of personal information as Facebookers in order to network properly.

Okay, so I usually don't do this but I think everyone needs to know this. My dad is a professional photographer and he takes and sells pictures during community events. He recently advertised his brochure in a PNC Bank in Carlisle, PA (which is a lot like Penn State with more working adults- a lot of white people) So his brochure had a picture of lovely daughters (myself and my younger sister) on the cover and smaller pictures of Caucasian kids. Over the 3 months that he advertised he only received 8 inquires. One of his good friends told him that it was because the brochure was "too black".

At first I was a tad bit confused but then I realized that most of America is racist. It’s not so hard to believe, I guess, because people don’t change, technology does. (That was nice, how I just through that word in there. I have good reason though) I think if all this technology such as the TV, phone, computer, camera, etc. were not invented we all would still mentally be in 1950. But because we have technology, we can't be so "loud" about what we truly think about people who don’t look like us. The fact is everyone, in their mind, acts as if it is 1950. It's crazy, I know but it's America.

For more on Racism and Technology go to:
http://switch.sjsu.edu/web/v6n2/articles/wright.html
http://www.osu.edu/units/research/archive/fractal.htm

Okay so it's really not a movie but I did create this script in order to inform, somewhat, people on social awareness.

Social Networking Awareness Video Script

Characters
The Patterson Family
Jasmyne Patterson – 16-year-old Facebook junky
Matthew Patterson – 45-year-old single parent with a daughter and son
Mark Patterson – 21 year-old college senior
Online Predator
Ronald Jones a.k.a. Louie – 37-year-old ex-convict addicted to befriending young girls on Facebook
Others
Jill Armstrong – Jasmyne’s best friend that is always online.
Thomas Claburn – New reporter for CMP news
Jennifer Small - New reporter for CMP news

Act One
Jasmyne has just finished facebooking her best friend Jill about a guy she just met through FB. When she hears her father coming, she gets off the computer. Then, she turns on the TV and there is a special report on about a Facebook and predators. Her father enters the room, watches the report with her, and gives her some fatherly advice.

(Close up on Jasmyne’s FB page and the following messages)
(voice over)
Jasmyne: Hey gurl, what chu doin?
Jill: Nothing. What’s up with you?
Jasmyne: OMG you will never believe what just happened
Jill: What is it?
Jasmyne: I just met the cutest guy on FB. His name is Louie. He is so awesome and I really think he likes me. He is in college. Actually he goes to Mark’s school.
Jill: WOW! That sounds amazing. Let’s hope Mark doesn’t find out.
Jasmyne: He won’t. I asked Louie if he knew him and he said he never heard of him.
Jill: Your brother’s school is so small. I can’t believe he doesn’t know everybody and their SS#...LOL…. So what are you naming the kids????
Jasmyne: Damn gurl its not that deep but we are going to meet up during his spring break.
Jill: Are you sure????
Jasmyne: Hold on…. I gotta go my dad is coming.
Jill: TTYL

(Jasmyne, walking to the couch, grabs the remote, turns on the TV and a new report comes on)

(Close up on TV screen) http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=202101541

Thomas Claburn: Today in breaking news, Facebook has been investigated for failing to protect users from sexual predators.

In a letter dated September 24th, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said that investigators posing as underage users uncovered evidence that underage users are targeted by sexual predators on Facebook and that there is widespread pornographic and obscene content on the site. Complaints addressed to Facebook staff are dealt with slowly, sporadically, and inconsistently. Within days of setting up fake profiles for 12-year-old to 14-year-old users, investigators "received numerous sexual solicitations from adults sent to several of the underage profiles”
The letter says that the Cuomo has subpoenaed information about Facebook's safety and security measures, as well as its complaint resolution mechanism. In an e-mailed statement to CMP, Facebook said that it plans to cooperate with the investigation.“

(Camera back to daughter and father)
Mr. Patterson: Jasmyne, I hope you were listening.
Jasmyne: Dad, I heard everything loud and clear.
Mr. Patterson: Yeah, okay, well I just want you to know that there are many strange people out there that may want to hurt you. Don’t believe that all of your online friends have your best interest in mind.
Jasmyne: I know, I know, Dad you tell me this all the time…. I get it already
Mr. Patterson: You better be sure you do.

Act Two
Jasmyne leaves for the mall and her father decides to log on to her computer to see what she has been doing. Her Facebook message was still on the screen. He reads it and calls his son Mark.

Jasmyne: See you later Dad.
Mr. Patterson: Be safe honey bun.
Jasmyne: Okay…Bye!
(Mr. Patterson goes up stairs to Jasmyne’s room and opens her laptop. The Facebook message between her and Jill is still open)

Mr. Patterson: (mumbling) He is in college…. Mark’s school…. meet up during spring break.
Mr. Patterson: I can’t believe this. She is only 16, I have to do something.
(Mr. Patterson then gets up and paces the floor for a minute. He pulls out his cell phone and calls his son, Mark)

Mark: Hey Dad, What’s up?
Mr. Patterson: Son, I have a very serious matter on my hands and I need you to be honest with me.
Mark: What’s wrong Dad, is it Grandma?! Is it Jasmyne?! Tell me.
Mr. Patterson: Its Jasmyne, she has started some kind of relationship with someone that goes to your school.
Mark: She what! She is only 16; what could she be doing with anyone from my school.
Mr. Patterson: I don’t know Son, that’s why I called you. You two are close so maybe you know something about this.
Mark: Of course not. How did you find out?
Mr. Patterson: I was snooping through her Facebook account. Look, his name is Louie, probably short for Louis. You’re still Senior Class President, right?
Mark: Yeah
Mr. Patterson: Well look this kid up, find him, and make him leave my daughter alone.
Mark: Okay Dad. I will call you back when I have the answers.

(Mr. Patterson closes his phone and sits on the bed with his head hung low.)

Act Three
Ronald Jones is on his laptop facebooking one of his young playmates, Rose. He then gets up and thinks about what he is going to do to Jasmyne when the meet.

(Creepy Ronald at laptop…close up on screen)

Rose: You’re a freak boy. You better stop talking like that before you get dealt with.
Ronald: Baby girl, you know everything I’m saying is true. So, when are we gonna make this happen? I know you want it.
Rose: You know it. Let’s hook up tonight in the back of the mall at 10. Sound good to you?
Ronald: You don’t even know how good that sounds… I’m going to tear you up.
(Ronald rises from his seat and walks to his bed)
(Camera rotates around the room focusing on the many pictures of young girls)

Ronald: Awe Man! I can’t wait until tonight. But that’s just the warm up. When I get to Jasmyne is when the real party is going to happen. She is just so hott but I’m going to put of that fire when I slit her throat wide open. (Hysterically laughing) Oh, I can’t wait.

Act Four
Jasmyne and Jill are at the mall talking about Louie and Facebook. They compare the personal information they each have ever posted. Jill’s page is less personal, stating only the basic information. However, Jasmyne’s page includes her birth date, her cell number, things she does after school, her address, her home number, her top friends, and a video of her self. Jill tells her about the harm she is putting her self into.

(Girls walking though the HUB or some place that looks like the mall that is quiet)
Jill: So... how do you and Louie meet?
Jasmyne: Through Facebook. One day, he sent me a message acting like he was in the journalism club at our school but I know everyone there and there is no Louie.
Jill: So he lied
Jasmyne: Yeah but then he confessed and said he just wanted to get to know me better. We have been talking ever since. I remember one time he called my house, I was thinking “Oh Shit! How did he get my number?”
Jill: Did he ever tell you how he got it?
Jasmyne: Yeah… I posted it on my Facebook profile
Jill: Damn girl, you really need to be careful with that. What else do you have posted?
Jasmyne: Umm… I don’t know, my birth date, cell number, after school clubs, my address, my home number, my top friends, and a video of myself…. I think that’s it.
Jill: Wow! You just want someone to hunt you down right?
Jasmyne: What girl, I just put that stuff up there because if someone needs to contact me, I want them to be able to without any hassle.
Jill: That’s really dangerous. If someone wanted to they could come to our school on Thursday afternoon, when you’re at band practice, and snatch your little ass up they could.
Jasmyne: Why would anyone want to do that?
Jill: Because there are crazy people out there that LOVE doing just that. How do you know this “Louie” is even legitimate? Have you asked your brother what Louie is like in school? If he is a nerd or a jock or whatever?
Jasmyne: Hhumm… I never really thought of that. Its just that we made such a good connection over Facebook that I thought…
Jill: Don’t think….know
Jasmyne: You know what, your right. I’ll call my brother and ask when I get home.

Act Five
Jasmyne arrives home as her father is screaming into the phone at the top of his lungs. Mark has just told him that there is no student in his entire college network named Louis, Louie, or Larry. He stares Jasmyne down and tells her to go to her room. He turns on the TV, on the news a man has just been arrested for child molestation. He uses the Facebook name Louie Armstrong. In her room, Jasmyne calls Mark and asks him what happened. He tells her and she immediately goes to her computer and deletes Louis from her friend list. She apologizes to her father and goes to bed.

Mr. Patterson: What do you mean there’s no one by that name? This guy is just lying to my daughter. Who the hell is she going to meet then?
Jasmyne: Dad, what’s wrong? Who are you talking about?
Mr. Patterson: Don’t give me that, you know exactly who I am talking to. GO TO YOUR ROOM!
(Mr. Patterson sits down on the couch and turns on the TV to cool down)

(Close up on TV screen)
Thomas Claburn: Tonight in breaking news, local child molester, Ronald Jones aka Louie Armstrong, has been arrested. He was caught raping local teen, Rose Valentine.
Jennifer Small: He is notorious on Facebook for using young girl’s personal information to lure them to him. Parents beware! Has this man befriended your daughter.

(Mr. Patterson goes to Jasmyne’s room to talk to her)
Mr. Patterson: Jazzy, you in here?
Jasmyne: Yes Daddy. Look, Mark told me everything and I deleted Louie as my friend. I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I was going to check his credentials tonight to see if he was true.
Mr. Patterson: He is true for sure.
Jasmyne: What do you mean?
Mr. Patterson: Ronald Jones was just arrested for rape and child molestation. He uses the Facebook profile Louie Armstrong.
Jasmyne: Oh my gosh.
Mr. Patterson: Oh my gosh is right. Do you know what he could have done to you? You could have been seriously hurt and traumatized.
Jasmyne: Yeah this is traumatic enough.
Mr. Patterson: Get some rest sweetie. We can talk more in the morning.
Jasmyne: Goodnight.

If you are a tech freak like I am, you will love the new tech Over the past 5 years, I have had 5 digital cameras, 6 cell phones, 2 mp3 players, and 2 TVs. Everyday, more and more technology is being developed. Here are a couple of articles with the lastest tech:

Vudu Set-Top Box

Five thousand movies on your TV, instantly: that's the promise of Vudu, a TV set-top box that uses the power of peer-to-peer networking to deliver near-DVD quality videos to your living room at the click of a button, no PC required. I've had about a week to test-drive the Vudu; did it fulfill my dreams of home-theater nirvana?

Microsoft Zune 30GB Digital Multimedia Device

It's brand new. It's really cool. And it's called Zune. When you want more than just another MP3 and video player, get one of these. Giant 30GB storage for music, photos and video ensures you'll never be bored. Ever. Best of all, the large, bright LCD display can go from portrait to landscape mode as you turn the player. Really. So whatever you're looking at always looks good.

Nikon CoolPix S51c 8 Megapixel Digital Camera

The Nikon Coolpix S51c is an outstanding new compact digital camera combining Nikon's distinctive wave-surface design with advanced features that make it easier to take beautiful photos and to share them with friends and family. Built on a custom application of Nikon's innovative EXPEED digital image processing concept and incorporating the precision optics of a Nikkor lens, the Coolpix S51c is built to realize optimum performance and maximum image quality.

Sonic Solutions Roxio MyDVD v.9.0 Studio

MyDVD 9 Studio provides everything you need to create stunning movie and slideshow productions, author DVDs, and produce video for the web and portable devices. Whether you are working in Standard or High Definition, MyDVD 9 Studio offers a hassle-free way to transfer and edit home recorded movies, create compelling motion slideshows, author standard and high definition DVDs all with superb production values.

Okay. This video project is "killng me" (from that Kingdom Hearts song).

I can't really do my part in the project without the other girls' parts. Jocelyn still hasn't sent me the final copt of the video. I can't get screen shots to talk about in the paper I have to produce for this project.

I think I will just write about all the effing problems we had during this process. So far the paper is 3 pages single spaced and I still need to more pages. This sucks. I hope the video turns out great.

I think I will play the Sims today because I am grown and I know how to manage my time. I will play the Sims 2 for 4 hours. I am going to create my new college friends and make Penn State within the Sims 2 University.

As I was browsing Yahoo.com, I found an article about a Indian girl with 8 limbs, 4 arms and 4 legs. Thanks to technology, she had a successful surgery.

A CT scan of two-year-old Indian girl Lakshmi before she underwent surgery. A The girl separated from her conjoined twin was doing well Saturday after regaining consciousness for the first time after a gruelling 27 hours of surgery(AFP/Sparsh Hospital)

This picture received 06 November 2007 from Sparsh Hospital, shows Indian girl Lakshmi (R) who was born with eight limbs sitting in her mother's lap at a hospital in Bangalore. The girl regained consciousness on Friday, two days after undergoing a gruelling 27-hour operation in a Bangalore hospital.(AFP/HO/File/Dibyangshu Sarkar)

In this undated computed axial tomography (CT scan) image provided on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007 by the Sparsh Hospital, Indian girl Lakshmi is seen before she underwent a 24-hour operation on her, in Bangalore, India . The 2-year-old girl born with four arms and four legs was in stable condition Thursday Nov. 8, 2007, a day after surgeons completed a marathon operation to remove her extra limbs, doctors said. (AP Photo/Sparsh Hospital, HO)

Chief orthopedic surgeon Dr. Sharan Patil, right, addresses the media after the completion of a 24-hour operation on Lakshmi. Surgeons said the 2-year-old, revered by many as a reincarnated goddess, has a chance at a normal life. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A)

After playing with second life on my own free time. I realized that it is a little scary and dangerous. During our class in SL, I explored Freebie Island. There were many MA and X-rated material in this particular place. I tried on lots of different smutty outfits. It was fun until someone invited me to SEX and LOVE ISLAND. Naively I went there, thinking that SL was a controlled space and there was no way anyone could do such things as sex. I was soo wrong. This sex island was a mess. There were dragons and things doing God knows what and I got a little creeped out and scared so I left. Back on Freebie Island, there were still more rows of free stuff to have and I needed a new hairstyle. As I went lurking through the rows of posters, I noticed that the people on the poster were getting less and less clothed. Then, BAM, full blown nudity. I did not really understand why I was soo shocked at first because I am in college and I see nudity all the time. However, I am a huge Sims2 fan and there would never be such things there. I just thought that SL was an online version of the Sims. I was wrong again. Now, I realize that SL is an online version of Sims 2 with so much more nastiness.

There are also scary vampires that want my blood.

Behind The Scenes With 'The Office' In Second Life Posted by Mitch Wagner, Oct 29, 2007 01:17 AM

Steve Nelson, an executive VP at Internet marketing company Clear Ink, took me behind the scenes last week for the TV show The Office in Second Life. The company created an elaborate Second Life sequence -- most of which ended on the cutting room floor. I'm hopeful we'll see the rest of The Office's Second Life adventures later this season.

On the show, we learn that Dwight Schrute -- the Frank Burns of The Office -- has been active in Second Life for the past year. He got involved in Second Life, he explains, because he loved his first life so much that he wanted more. Now that his first life has gone sour, he has retreated into the virtual world, going so far as to build his own "Second Second Life" inside Second Life, because retreating into Second Life isn't far enough.

We see a couple of minutes of Dwight's avatar flying around Second Life, as well as a close-up of another avatar that Jim, the show's hero and Dwight's nemesis, has built for himself.

YouTube has a clip where Dwight introduces Second Life to Jim and to us, the audience:

I talked with Clear Ink's Nelson on the phone and in-world Thursday afternoon, a few hours before the show's premiere.

The production started with a phone call from Kent Zbornak, co-executive producer of The Office, just a month ago, Nelson said. Clear Ink received a copy of the script, and set to work creating the Second Life sequences.

The work Clear Ink did for The Office is an example of machinima , video animation created in a game or virtual world. One of the weird and wonderful things about machinima in Second Life is that it's very much like filming in the real world. Clear Ink did the things that a real-world production company does when creating a video:

They scouted locations. Where they couldn't find suitable locations, they built sets.

They bought wardrobe and props.

They lined up extras. Like real-world extras, the avatars used in the sequence proved tricky to manage, prone to hamming it up and trying to steal scenes.

And then they got it all together and filmed and edited the results.

"We shot about eight different scenes," Nelson said. "Five of them were in locations that we found in the real Second Life, and three were sets that we created." Clear Ink also created avatars for Dwight and Jim, which closely resembled the characters on TV.

Clear Ink shot about 21 minutes of video, and only about two minutes made it to viewers. However, the scenes were so open-ended that I'm optimistic that we're just seeing the setup for future stories to play out over the course of the season.

Nelson gave me a tour of Clear Ink's production sets. They included a simplified version of the offices shown in The Office, with Pam's reception desk featured prominently.

The Second Life area also includes a neighborhood bar, a city street, a paintball field, and, on the second floor of one of the buildings on the street, Dwight's apartment.

(Yes, I know that in the show Dwight doesn't live in an apartment; he lives on a beet farm. But, Nelson explained, for the purpose of this episode, Dwight lives in a Scranton apartment. Nelson didn't resolve the discrepancy, and it didn't come up on the Thursday episode.)

A barroom. That's my avatar, Ziggy Figaro, on the left, standing next to Nelson's avatar, Kiwini Oe, in the Schrute Farms Beets sweatshirt.

The Dunder Mifflin offices. That's Troi Timtam, avatar designer and builder, between me and Nelson.

Dwight's Scranton apartment.

Exterior of the Dunder Mifflin offices.

Click Here to read the entire article

Click Here to read more on "The Office's" apporach to Second Life

**This is my current events essay for my SRA 111 class**

Linden Lab’s virtual world “Second Life” has over 11,085,666(1) residents that conduct their everyday affairs through it online. There are over 140(2) “real life” companies and organizations in Second Life that carry out “real” business within it. Federal agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Congress have islands within this virtual world. On March 19, 2007, Government Computer News reported that the Department of Homeland Security is considering doing business within Second Life(3) .

GCN spoke with DHS’s deputy director of the Office for Interoperability and Compatibility, Tony Frater about having property in Second Life. According to GCN, “DHS is just at the point of having informal discussions with one company about setting up a virtual island for its Safecom program”. The purpose of the Safecom program is to set up a wireless first-response system for natural disaster, accidents, and terrorism. It is there to make sure the public is safe after such events. DHS as a part of Safecom has the responsibility of creating meetings with the public safety experts. Sometimes these people live across the world and it would cost a lot of money to get them to America for meetings. This is where Second Life can help. If each expert and DHS member created an avatar in SL and there was a secure place to meeting, they could certainly have their meeting through SL.

Not only could the Safecom program member meet in Second Life, but they could also simulate first-response events. These simulations would save the program a great deal of money. “Most public-safety agencies don’t have the resources to conduct “tabletop exercises,” which typically are simulations of first-responder events such as a pandemic or a biochemical attack, Frater said. One of these exercises usually requires public-safety workers to spend an entire weekend working at the event. And a tabletop exercise can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars” (Walsh). They could conduct mock hurricanes or oil spills and have the agents’ avatars follow regular procedure.

Aside from the excitement of this new idea, DHS is worried about Second Life’s “mature audience” aspects. It must take into account that SL is full of “casinos and unclothed beaches. The site also has its share of vandals, such as the “griefers” who recently defaced the Second Life site of presidential candidate John Edwards” (Walsh). In order to avoid exposure to such things, they are asking Linden to create a secure and private meeting place that only DHS can visit.

Personally, I think that the idea of the DHS’s Safecom program running though Second Life both can and can not work. The aspect that would reasonable work is simple meetings. Sharing ideas in an orderly fashion could definitely work. Each avatar could come to the secure private area, sit in a chair, and share their ideas on public safety. I have had a class or two be conducted within Second Life. Sometimes there are immature people flying into the lead speaker while he or she is talking, but DHS would not have to worry about that in their private area.

The aspect that I think will not work is the simulations. Second Life, while surprising and innovative, is surprising and innovative. Other avatars could attack while one strolls down the street. One could be teleported to “Sex and Orgy Island” at any moment. The virtual world is also very new. There are many times that I have been online and the game has crashed. Sometimes I would be flying and when I would try to stop flying, the game would freeze and my avatar would fly into the water around whichever island it was on. If the game did that while in a simulation, they would have to start over and time would be wasted.

Another strange thing I noticed is that the avatar cannot be hurt. As many times as I have flew into the water or dropped 20,000 ft, I have never had a scratch or bruise. I think that will affect the results of Safecom’s simulations. In the real world, if there were a hurricane, people would be hurt and unable to walk. However, in Second Life there could be a hurricane where people are flung around with it, but then walk away from it as if it was nothing. As Second Life grows as a virtual world, there will be fewer glitches and more realistic situation and consequences. When that time comes, I think, it will be safe and effective for the DHS to conduct their meetings and simulations in Second Life.

(1) “Economic Statistics.” Second Life. November 25, 2007. November 25, 2007 < http://secondlife.com/whatis/economy_stats.php>.
(2) “Companies and Organisations in Second Life – Portal.” New Business Horizons. November 25, 2007 < http://www.nbhorizons.com/list.htm>.
(3) Walsh, Trudy. "DHS ponders foray into Second Life." Government Computer News. March 19, 2007. November 25, 2007 <http://www.gcn.com/print/26_06/43315-1.html?topic=homeland-security&CMP=OTC-RSS>.

Well making objects in SL isnt easy. I wish I could just find things and put them together but it is necer that easy. I have to make everything by scratch. It sucks so much.I made quite a few things but nothing fancy. I know how to make the basics like tables, chairs, lamps, rugs, computers (of course right!), ummm I think that is about all I have made so far. But I know i can make ANYTHING if I put my mind, time, and effort into it.

She is pretty cool! You can now use this as an avatar for AIM. Here is the link to the site:
www.aim.com and www.meez.com
She updates everytime I change her too!

I am going to post the top 15 top 25 links ever (just to be safe)

1. Top-25.com

Top 25.com is the only place to find the best information and entertainment sites. From the menu on the left, you can choose which topsite to view. We are constantly adding new lists and features to Top-25.com, so if you have any suggestions, please feel free to contact us using our contact forms. If you are a webmaster, then you have found one of the best resources for traffic around. This is one of the best places for website promotion. If you are interested in joining one of our topsites, you can do so from the menu on the right.

2. Top 25 Highest Paying Jobs

Saving my readers from the pagination hell of Forbes’s website, here’s the list in friendly form. Forbes has one of the worst websites out there: cluttered, crammed with tiny-print links and ad-packed, it’s just plain awful.

3. Top 25 Songs
The Billboard Top 25 songs of 2006. This is where you can go to view the most popular songs from 2006.

4. Top 25 NFL players
Okay so we all love football and I know that you want to know who the best of the best was.

5. Top 25 Movie Stars

These STARmeter™ rankings were not based upon critical assessments or box-office performance, but the actual search behavior of over 42 million users of IMDb.com. These results are an aggregate of weekly STARmeter rankings from IMDbPro.com, IMDb.com's professional subscription service designed specifically for people in the entertainment industry.

6. Top 25 Most Emailed Articles

Most popular articles sent by NYTimes.com readers in the last 24 hours.

7. Top 25 Innovations

So it should come as little surprise that the Internet (as we know it) headlined the top 25 innovations of the past quarter century, according to a panel of technology leaders assembled by the Lemelson-MIT Program, which promotes inventiveness in teens.
In creating the list, the group hoped to single out "25 non-medically related technological innovations that have become widely used since 1980, are readily recognizable by most Americans, have had a direct and perceptible impact on our everyday lives, and/or could dramatically affect our lives in the future."

8. Top 25 Fastest Growning Tech Business

Our annual rankings show another banner year for the businesses leading the tech revival.

9. Top 25 Urban Legends
Sometimes people believe things that are just not true. On about.com, there is a top-25 list for the top urban legends.

10. Top 25 SEO Blogs

Once again the list should be useful because it is based on objective factors. There are many “Top SEO Blogs” lists around the web, but most of
them are based on the preferences of the author.

11. Top 25 Blogs About Blogging

The “Top 25 Blogs About Blogging” list ranks blogs according to their Google Pagerank, Alexa rank, number of Bloglines subscribers and Technorati authority.

12. Top 25 People Searched on the Internet
This shows the name of ther person, the number of searchers the have, weather they had web, images, news, or videos.

13. Top 25 Movie Directors of All Time

In art, politics and history, each generation finds its own heroes. In the motion picture industry, is that really the case? The innovators who shaped the art form are the ones still asserting the most influence on moviemakers today. That is according to a poll of directors, writers, actors, critics and others who were asked : Who are the 25 most influential directors of all time?
Influence is defined as that intangible power which can affect a person, thing or course of events. Many believe that motion pictures, more than any other art form in the past century, have had a profound influence on modern life. I would say it was hard to argue against that. If one also accepts the generally held premise that directors, more than any other creative force in the film industry, are responsible for steering and shaping motion pictures, then perhaps film directors as a group have had a vastly underestimated effect on the way society thinks and behaves.
But who has had the most influence on other directors, as well as the public? In the past 100 years, which directors have made an indelible impact on our lives, and on the face of the movie industry? In what ways have these directors helped to define cinema as we know and see it today? With the help of some of our most celebrated moviemakers and industry professionals, we have counted down the directors who made the most difference—and continue to do so today.

14.Top 25 Most Influential Executives

What, exactly, is influence? This year, CRN editors took a slighly different tack with the long-running Top 25 Most Influential Executives report, building a list of the executives and technologists that got people talking in 2006. What more telling sign of influence than the ability to inspire a debate or conversation?

15. Top 25 Horror Movies
You can not say you love horror movies until you have seen these 25. They are the scariest horror movies of all time.

The Second Life Dance Party was great.

I am so glad that our class pulled this off. I just wish that I could have been there earlier. The costume contest was amazing. I thought that here would be more than 5 entries but those people won some major Linden Dollars. The wolf face Gerry Santoro won first place for Original Design and that Blue Blob thingy won second place. I thought that it was an amazing creation and I loved the way it danced.

My costume was a glow in the dark stringy thing. It moved great with my dance moves.

Andrea looked great with her red dress. It looked like something I would totally wear to the prom (It was actually kind of similar).

I had a lot of fun being a judge and I am glad that I got to be a part of this historical step in PSU’s dabble with technology.

I want everyone to visit the offical web site for our IST110H Dance Party @ http://istdanceparty.weebly.com/

So last night around 9:45PM, Shannon White came to my door in PennyPacker Hall and said

“Oh my gosh guys, my friend just told me that there is a gunman loose on campus. He shot someone on North Atherton and in the HUB. I’m really scared and you need to stay inside.”

After that, I wasted no time while I texted all of my friends on campus about the event. My text read,

“This is not a joke. There is a gunman loose on campus. 2 people where shot in the HUB and on Atherton Street. Please stay indoors and send this to anyone you know on PSU campus. This is not a joke or a chain letter.”

By the10:15PM, my boyfriend heard about it on the West Side of campus and it had turned into a completely different story. Now, there were two gunmen and they had shot 3 people on Atherton Street, 2 students in the Honors college and 3 people in the HUB. I was shocked but I was too scared to not believe him. Anything could have happened. I called my mother for mental support and she must have called all of the family. And by the time my grandmother called me, terrorist were bombing the BJC. This just shows how stories are twisted and how Penn State needs to work on their communication skills. Around 10:41PM, I received a webmail message from Jason Hunt stating:

“Hi everyone, hopefully you have heard this information from your resident assistant. First and foremost, Atherton hall is completely secure and safe and there is no reason to be alarmed. If you have any comments, questions or concerns, please contact your resident assistant or myself directly.

Apparently, there was a murder in CambriaCounty and the suspects are supposedly in the State College area. State College Borough sent out a code red to all State College residents asking them to remain in their homes and to keep their doors and windows locked. Supposedly, the suspects were spotted on or near the vicinity of Atherton Street. An on campus resident found out and assumed it was Atherton hall which prompted an immediate response by university police. University police did a thorough search of Atherton hall as well as the surrounding exterior areas and EVERYTHING IS SECURE, THERE IS NOTHING TO BE ALARMED ABOUT! If you have not heard an update from your resident assistant, you will soon. I realize that those of you who were around while the police were canvassing may have been taken aback by their presence and response but please understand their diligence was for your safety. Thank you to all of you who immediately complied that made their job a lot easier.

In sum, there is no threat to our building the campus (or any buildings for that matter) is NOT on lock down. As a reminder, if there is an emergency or something looks suspicious, please make sure you dial 911 or contact university police at 863-1111. Safety in Atherton hall is everyone’s responsibility which is why we need to make sure that people ARE NOT piggy backing into our building that do not live here. Please make sure you are doing your part to assist myself, the RAs and the housing staff in keeping our building safe and secure!

Best,
Jason Wade Hunt

Penn StateUniversity, 01'
M.Ed. Candidate, College Student Affairs, 08'
Secretary, PennState Figure Skating Club

Senior Coordinator
Office of Residence Life
The PennsylvaniaStateUniversity
119 Atherton Hall
University Park, Pennsylvania16802”

I was so relieved that everything was okay. This morning in the Collegian, the real story was final told. Click here to read the article.
I hope nothing like this ever happens again.

During my first semester, I have experienced many new things. When I first arrived, I was so stressed thinking that my classes were going to be really hard. I changed my major from Forensic Science to Security and Risk Analysis. I realized that it would just cost way too much to buy all of theses science books. By the time I brought all of my SRA books, the total was $160. I figured that I will save a lot now and make much more in the future.

In the beginning, I really hated living in Pennypacker Hall. However, I found out that living in the honors dorms is so BORING. The quiet hours begin at 6 and no one goes out during the weekend so you have to always be on the hush. I could never do that. Throughout the entire semester, I have been to a party or two or three every weekend. I have even partied on some Thursdays. The semester has been like nothing I expected and I have adapted to college life wonderfully.

Classes have been a breeze and I hope that it just isn’t Freshman luck and that I really am smart. I have joined so many organizations. To compliment my major I joined the SRA Club and to compliment my ethnic background I joined S.M.A.R.T. (Student Minority Advising and Recruitment Team), the Black Caucus, S-Plan, and FastStart. I have been very involved in most of them and I plan to run for the exec board for SMART next semester.

This semester has been a blast. I have met many new people and I have made everlasting friends. I hope next semester is just like Fall 2007.

IST 110H is one of my favorite classes. Andrea Tapia has been a very great teacher. The honors settings have helped me learn and participate in the class. The class was really small, which gave me a chance to speak whenever I felt like doing so. I also feel like my class input was greatly appreciated. I found the majority of the class/home assignments very informative.

My favorite assignment was the video project. I loved going into the sound studio and recording my voice. The group work was a little frustrating but I managed to get through it. Next semester I am taking CAS 100B (Working in small groups) Hopefully, that class will give me better tips on how to be an effective leader. I just hate it when I let where I come from get in the way of my productiveness.

This class really makes me want to participate in more honors classes and I hope they will be a great as this one.