Extreme Pogo

In addition to communication, I am big fan of transportation. In many ways the two are intrinsically linked - communication is virtual transportation. Hmm, maybe I should write a dissertation about that.

Anyway, this video has nothing to do with media except that it's on youtube. I came across it when my roommate's friend stopped by and remarked that my motorized scooter (it's a Bladez Elite 250 - a little electric lazy mobile which haven't used it in awhile) looked like a pogo stick. Next thing we were exploring the vurtego website and watching people do crazy things with powerful sticks on youtube.



It's fun to watch, but I still prefer wheels. Speaking of lil' boyz pushing big wheels, check out a silly cartoon video of my newest favorite pop-hop song, "The way I live", by Baby Boy Da Prince.

From SL pic sharing - to - I want to work at LL!!

Snapzilla, a website for sharing photos from Second Life, is one of the many cool things I learned about during my interview at Linden Lab this Monday. Why would they give an internship to someone as clearly ignorant about SL as I am? Well, I'm an overworked PhD student with a passion for the metaverse. Although I don't spend much time in it, I have faith that metaverse will make the real world a better place. But doesn't that mean I have blind faith? Well, I would argue that faith must be blind in some regard in order to be faith at all. Anyway, I promised I'd read some blogs and spend more time in-world before my start date - if I am fortunate enough to have a start date.

Nicktropolis is coming - tomorrow

Virtual worlds seem to be springing up all over the place. Can Second Life handle the competition? I hope so. And then I hope they all merge into one beautiful unified mega-virtual universe.

Here's an article about Nicktropolis, a virtual world for kids and predators.

And in a completely unrelated story, click here to make a mii on your PC (I played the wii today. Thanks Anna for the link!)

2.5 weeks till my birthday

Friends, parents, countrymen,

The time has come yet again to pool your wealth and give me stuff. The Scientific American article "20 Hottest Gadgets From the Consumer Electronics Show" is a great place to start for ideas.

Scientific American: 20 Hottest Gadgets From the Consumer Electronics Show
New ideas and fresh takes on old favorites--
Click here to launch the gallery

Or, you could just get me a ticket to space on Virgin Galactic.
http://www.virgingalactic.com/htmlsite/index.htm

Or how about a sexy android to give me back massages while I procrastinate writing my papers by posting on this blog?

http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.php?id=40329&adid=news

I WANT A PONY!!!

ENV, the Hy-Bike

Britain’s Intelligent Energy recently unleashed the world's first fuel cell motorcycle. Yes, it's pretty - but it's also pretty slow, though apparently it can still pop wheelies.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.01/play.html?pg=5

Chatting with the a&&#@%$ who stole my friend's identity

The chat started out fine. She said hi and I gave her an update on my life. Then she asked me for my skype account info, which made me suspicious, so I asked her an identifying question (her former roommate's last name - which now I realize could have been found easily in the archived emails). When she avoided the answer, I realized that my friend's gmail account had been stolen. I proceeded to chat with the thief.

The text of our chat is below. The comments I'm inserting now are in bold/CAPS. For most of the conversation I was on the phone with my friend (who had not been able to access her email for 3 days) and I submitted the incident to google immediately. This makes me want to join some sort of policing agency. Crime sucks.

NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED SO THAT, WELL, YOU KNOW

11:53 PM Jessie: hey
me: hiya. I went to Beard Poppa's tonight (in LA) and thought of you!
11:54 PM Jessie: really
tell me what happened
11:55 PM me: at BP's? ...well, I ordered a milk tea cream puff. it wasn't as good as vanilla, but still yummy.
how are you!?!?
Jessie: wow
Jessie: I`m doing great here....what about you
11:56 PM me: first semester went well. My favorite recent research topic is the virtual world Second Life. I'm also doing a study on the Nintendo Wii
Jessie: really...
me: But the bummer is that 3 of my potential advisors are leaving USC
Jessie: so how is your lady
HMM ...GOOD GUESS
me: she's well.
I'm going to see her this weekend
11:57 PM Jesse: post to her my greetings ok
WEIRD GRAMMAR - FIRST MAJOR CLUE
me: We're still surviving the long distance
furshur
how's John?
Jessie: she`s doing great
SECOND CLUE
11:58 PM me: she?
Jessie: lol
me: :)
11:59 PM Jessie: Robby do u have skype account?
me: yup. I think I'm rratan
wanna talk talk?
Jessie: sure
12:00 AM can u lend me some few minutes
wanna have some few talks
HAHA - THIRD CLUE - BUT THE FUNNY PART IS THAT I THOUGHT SHE MEANT GIVE HER SOME TIME AND PERHAPS ADVICE, NOT "LEND" HER MINUTES LITERALLY
me: furshur - I hope your grammar is better in person ;)
12:01 AM Jessie: yup
Ratan can u help me out?
FORTH CLUE - NOBODY CALLS ME RATAN
12:02 AM wanna talk talk
me: okay - what's your skype name?
12:03 AM Jessie: dont have one ratan....would like you to lend me yours
FIFTH CLUE THAT BROKE THE CAMEL'S BACK
12:05 AM me: hey, quick question... I forget Della's last name and I wanted to send her an invitation to my party. Can you remind me?
Jessie: same here lol
I CAUGHT YOU!!!
me: that's funny
I'll have to ask Della
12:06 AM Jessie: yup...very very funny
my memories
12:08 AM ratan are u gonna help out
I'VE EDITED SOME OF THE FOLLOWING TO BE SUITABLE FOR ALL AUDIENCES - I WAS A LITTLE HEATED WHEN I FIRST REALIZED WHAT WAS GOING ON
12:09 AM me: Look you f****** a******. You stole my friend's gmail account. Tell me who you are!!!
Jessie: am Robby
12:10 AM me: Tell me who you are NOW!!!
12:11 AM Jessie: why u wanna me
12:12 AM talk
me: I want you to give my friend her gmail password back
Jessie: really
me: don't you feel bad. Stealing her identity is f***** up.
12:13 AM Just to get a skype account?
Jessie: yup
me: how did you get it?
Jessie: if you guys help me out am gonna release
12:14 AM me: how did you get the password?
Jessie: brb
me: how did you get the password?
12:15 AM F*** Y**!!!
12:16 AM Jessie: hey dont try to insult me ok
12:17 AM or u gonna loose your mail toooooo
me: ok, fine
Jessie: i promose you
me: But give me her password back ...please
I GOT A LITTLE SPOOKED - SO I TURNED ON A SECOND FIREWALL
Jessie: i will at the write time
12:18 AM me: she's already in contact with google
Jessie: so?
me: so they'll change the password and give it bck to her
Jessie: i have about 1000`s of google mail and password ok
THIS IS WAY SCARY ...IS IT THE TRUTH? IF SO, HOW?
12:19 AM hey stop talking s*** or u gonna loose your email ok
you must know that we live 2gether tooo
me: listen man, I'm not trying to talk s***. I just want you to give my friend her gmail too.
12:20 AM Jessie: u wont believe it when u recognise me
me: Oh ... you and I live together?
THAT'S INTERESTING. MY ONE ROOMMATE IS JUST LEARNING HOW TO USE EMAIL - I DOUBT SHE'S STEALING ACCOUNTS. MY OTHER ROOMMATE IS A GERMAN SHEPPARD. YOU'RE RIGHT, I WOULDN'T BELIEVE IT WHEN I "RECOGNISE" YOU USING YOUR PAWS ON A KEYBOARD TO MAKE FAKE THREATS ...ALL YOU WOULD NEED TO DO TO SCARE ME IS GROWL!!!
Jessie: we know each other.....lol
12:21 AM u very close to me ok........so you beware of what you say ok
me: are you threatening me?
I WONDER IF I COULD PRESS CHARGES?
Jessie: i aint
only telling you what u should know
12:23 AM so ratan what are u saying
take my regards to williams ok
me: i'm saying, can you please tell me the current password so I can send it to her so she can get back into her email
12:24 AM Jessie: ok
i will if you answer me correctly
12:25 AM what does she needs it for
I NEEDED A BREAK
12:26 AM Jessie: waiting 4 an answer
12:27 AM guess u re busy
12:28 AM am very naughty dont u c
12:32 AM brb
12:46 AM me: you still there?
12:48 AM Jessie: think so
12:50 AM me: well, my friend needs her account so that she can do her work. she's a social worker - someone who helps people, not someone who takes advantage of them like you. With your computer skills you could probably get a very well paying job. But I'm sure you enjoy the thrill. In a way I understand where you're coming from - needing a thrill - but I still would never put people through the pain that you do. Anyway, I gotta sleep and wake up for class. good luck not going to jail. If your heart softens and you want to send me her password, I would appreciate it
12:51 AM Jessie: ok thanks
gudnite

I HAD TO END WITH AN EVANGELICAL RANT. NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT THIS PERSON WASN'T EVEN WORTH THE RANT. I JUST HOPE THAT GOOGLE AND THE PROPER LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES CAN FIGHT THIS TYPE OF CRIME. OF COURSE, THERE ARE WORSE THINGS HAPPENING OUT IN THE WORLD AND I'M FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO NOT HAVE TO ENDURE THEM REGULARLY, BUT THIS TYPE OF INCIDENT HELPS ME REMEMBER THAT ANY ACT THAT INTENTIONALL HARMS ANOTHER PERSON SHOULD BE PUNISHED. WHEN I'M DONE WITH THE PHD, MAYBE I SHOULD SIGN UP FOR SOME INTERNATIONAL ANTI-CYBER-TERRORISM/CRIME AGENCY.

Welcome friends and family

Hi to everyone who's looking at the blog because you received the link in an email from me. Thanks for checking it out!

There's just a few postings below. Let me know what you think. Hopefully I can juggle this hobby with my research and classes. :)