LC_MOO vs SL

Throughout ITC213 we’ve used LC_MOO as the primary synchronous communication tool.  Once set up it is clearly a pragamatic, effective and powerful communication tool for groups.  On the downstide, it is perhaps somewhat dated now, 2d, and a standalone platform.

Comparing MOO to contemporary alternatives is somewhat unfair due to the age difference. Like, comparing the legendary Model T ford to a modern car perhaps.  However is is useful because for most comparisons MOO still stands out as an emitentely suitable and effective tool.

However, SecondLife (SL) possibily starts to be a contending alternative now. For example, some of the educational activities available in SL are discussed here: http://edumuve.com/tour/, and here http://www.simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Second_Life_Education_Wiki

Put the 3d elements aside, is the chat as effective in SL as MOO?  I suspect that with further evaluation the chat capability could be found to be as effective, or enhanced.  SL supports Audio, e.g. from lecturer.  Additionally physical gestures can be added to conversations, adding to the immersive experience.

Today I visited: Sydney opera house, Various Shops for Avatar clothes/jewerelly, and SL weapons (yikes), freebie island to get some bits and bobs for my avatar, but the best was the trip to NASA Epcot Centre and JPL Laboratories where I flew around in one of the moon landers.  The ability to stream media on a cinema screen (quicktime projection) is really quite remarkable — whilst watching the movie I can, if a i want to, spin around to look at and talk to others, whilst keeping an eye on the movie screen.  The behaviour supported in this regard is quite realistic. 

And if you’ll excuse me I have more exploring to do … Bye!

LC_MOO avatar updated

I’m reaching the end of ITC213, in fact, it is the end and the next LC_MOO session is the last

I figure i’d get my LC_MOO avatar dressed-up for the occasion to the extent possible in LC_MOO (er, Ascii art).  A copy for posterity:

                               “”"

                 "   "                 """""""      ""        "       "         ""       """""""""""""""""""""""""""               ~~~ | ~~~                 (.)  (.)           [         Let's party!                  ___           /                   ~

Comment: Ian[213] is specially dressed for the party tonite. Sporting torns bleached jeans, thai-dye tee shirt, and a sombrero with a 2ft rim which brushes people that get too close. (He's having a night off the pirate theme). With a habit of getting drunk at some party most people are relieved to know he's the type to fall asleep (rather than get rowdy or amorous ... but don't tempt him).

POD work 28 Oct 2008

POD group 4 dialogue for POD task 3 attached here.

POD task 3: Blogging

Early in the course in one of our MOO sessions we were discussing Blogging tools, and preferred/selected sites and tools people were using.  Somebody came out with the statement “all blog sites/tools are the same”, which was a bit of a convesation stopper.

At the time, I recognised that there was something I didn’t agree with in that statement, but didn’t know exactly what it was at the time and couldn’t articulate it in the time available and everything else that was going on in the group dialogue.  From a functional perspective: sure, all blog site tools largely have the same objective – ability to keep something like an online log or diary, and then some. 

However, now I’m at the end of the course and having built up a body of experience in the use of Blogging tools (WordPress, Blogger, CSU Interact, ISPG Moodle) and that comment is still bugging me.  Because I have to say that they’re not all the same.  Whilst they may share largely the same purpose … their usability (ease of use, consistency, ease of learning), capabilities, flexibilities are VERY different. 

WordPress has been a joy to use. 

Blogger, not so impressed.

ISPG Moodle fairly rudimentary but relative simple and therefore easy to use.  The use and appearance of a “Tag cloud” within the Site is very good.

CSU Interact … frankly, I found this one to be bloody hard work.  I can’t seem to add the requisite three entries.  Just one is appearing.  Functionally it seems to attempt/support more capability andmore structure in the content (titles, absract, body, tags, etc) but since I can’t publish some entries that seems of little use.  Perhaps there is a limit to the number of entries I can submit and reached that limit … but if so surely it would notify me in some way. 

So in conclusion, not all Blogging tools are the same.  The user of the blog site needs to be comfortable with how to use it, and importantly … enJOY using it if the blog site is to alive and active with regular updates.  Anything which gets in the way will discourage use.  For commercial businesses those considerations on blogs are probably pushed aside as employee’s as remunarated to forego those expectations and simply use the blog tool provided but I would contend that there are side effects to productivity and quality.

iPod and PodCasting

Today was my birthday (yay).  The celebrations occurred at the weekend … and I’m allowed to because my actual birthdate is somewhat of a mystery (long story, way off topic).

Gifts comprised: clothes, which are

Topic 10 exercise 1: Social Networks Case Study

Patterns of people interactions within the weekly POD sessions:

The social network matrix and diagrams illustrate some recurring patterns:

1. Hopper who announces the agenda has (implicit) interaction with everybody else.
2. Some people interact (respond) more than others
3. Most people interact with Hopper, i.e. respond to a question or prompt.
4. Some people interact with some specific others, a pattern within this appears to be a) people within the same POD group in regard to some related task b) some shared experience, c) humour/rapport d) and other incidental purposes.
5. Some people don’t interact with some specific others within the dialogue.
6. Some peoples interaction contains significantly more use of emoting than others.

5.1  If the analysis were performed on another topic extract the same patterns could generally be found. However there could also be significant variation depending on the following observed conditions:

• Attendence (non attendance, attendance of other session, lateness)
• Participation (there but doing something else, connection drop out, illness)
• Delegation (assigning tasks, e.g. running a section/agenda to somebody else)
• Mood (wide range: low spirited DE students with flu [low level and reluctant participation], jovial high sprited DE student about to graduate [won't shutup], etc)

5.2 Referencing – Pending

5.3 I contend that the CSCW MOO session logs are an example of a complex system in social network analysis.  Because it contains the hallmarks such as recurring patterns of interactions but which can vary signifinicantly subject to too many variables to truly track or control.

Topic 9 exercise 1: Research & Evaluation in Social Computing

Hmmm, unsure what to do with this one.  Will first tackle POD task 4 (heuristic evaluation and come backt to this next week).

POD work 21 Oct 2007

Productive 3+ hour session commencing at 7pm to perform heuristic evaluation of the Help & Documentation within ISPG Moodle and CSU Interact.  Also progressed POD task 3.  To keep things interesting and stimulating late at night there’s some humour and chat mixed in

Dialogue can be read here.

POD for session 18 Oct 2007

Dialogue can be accessed here.

Big highlight this week was Hopper’s birthday so I attended my first online birthday party and ate virtual birthday cake. 

As my the course has progressed and my online social interaction skills are developing I’m starting to get a stronger appreciation for the importance of “emoting” in vitual communities.  Visual emotional cues are important in the “meat-world”*, and tone/pace/language in telephone conversion.  In realtime online chat it can help to throw in emotional or thought gestures to the dialogue to assist understanding / minimise misunderstanding.  I think I need to do more of this. 

*Cute term somebody mentioned to me last week instead of using “realworld”.  Not sure if it’ll catch on though?  What do you think?

Topic 8 exercise 3: Web 2.0

Hmmmm, this one will be interesting! What “web2.o” is exactly seems to be the subject of much conjecture from what I’ve read elsewhere, and who am I to come up with a definitive statement.  However I think most people could agree that advances in internet bandwith speeds, AJAX and emergence social computing are major factors.  For my purposes I declare the following to be “Web 2.0″ sites and why:

a) del.icio.us

del.icio.us is an example of a social bookmarking site – that is, a site which