Addictive?

I know from past experiences that interactive computer life can be addictive. For instance, Facebook. I have had a Facebook for about four years and have checked for new wall posts from friends, new tagged pictures, or even just recently added photos or status updates from my friends everyday for in total, no less than two hours. I would consider this an addictive habit. On some days even, I would say that I am on Facebook for even more than two hours. When I should be doing homework or writing a paper or doing research I find myself constantly getting distracted by this evil social network. No matter how much I say it is great because I can keep in contact with my friends and family, sometimes I believe that Facebook does more bad than good.

One problem is, Facebook is not even as interactive as Second Life. The more applications and more sociable you can be with people I feel as though the more addicted one could get. Especially due to the fact that you can meet people in almost human form and talk to them and interact with them on the spot makes this whole world so much more addictive. I do not know all of the facts about Second Life however I feel that this whole virtual world could be very time consuming and that time can literally fly by if you are not careful. It is extremely easy to get locked up on trying to figure out what you want your avatar to look like and all of those minor details can add up. Once you have this figured out, those are only minor details then you get into everything else that Second Life has to offer and exploring this virtual world is a process in itself. Something new can appear every day! You can travel somewhere else everyday and learn something new; it is like living in the real world except you are glued to your computer. That’s why I want to know how addictive this can be.

Hjortshoj's Misconceptions

Throughout my four years in high school, I was obviously taught the right way to cite sources. However, I wasn’t taught the importance of the effectiveness of citing sources. Hjortshoj takes citing sources to a whole new level explaining to the readers how important it is to make sure at the end of references from outside sources are properly cited by the writer. While I was in high school I overlooked the three misconceptions of Reference and Documentation that Hjortshoj refers to.

 The first misconception that he refers to is that a citation at the end of a paragraph authorizes all uses of that source in previous sentences. The link to that misconception and my high school career is that I was actually taught that it was okay to do this so the misconception that Hjortshoj refers to is actually very common to high school students. 

The second misconception is that minor changes in wording allow you to use author’s language and ideas without reference, quotation, or citation. I was personally taught to always cite ideas even if they were in your own words. This should be done because no matter how you word it, these ideas came from someone else’s head and they are not yours. Hjortshoj also explains that students believe that it is okay to “borrow” phrases if they are related to their beliefs. I was never taught this throughout high school and never actually believed that this was okay. To me, it just sounds like a poor excuse to steal someone’s ideas without punishment. 

The third misconception that Hjortshoj mentions is that quotations do not need an introduction to the reference if you include a citation at the end. Emphasis on an introduction to quotes was always a strategy that was stressed as important throughout high school. Without an introduction and even a conclusion the quotation just stands there in the writing and does not fit into the paper. 

A Whole New World

The first place that I visited was the Sistine Chapel. Still getting used to the Second Life and all it has to offer, I did not even know where to begin. To my surprise, I did not see one other person. This was such a significant detail to my visit because I had to figure that there were many people who would want to visit the Sistine Chapel. However, I made a second visit and went inside and did end up finding one other avatar who was also visiting the Chapel. For some reason, before taking my snapshot, I got kicked out of the Chapel for not following certain "rules." I'm still not quite sure what I did wrong. I did try and make conversation with this person but I got no response. I really enjoyed how detailed the architecture throughout not only inside the Chapel but also outside was too. Everything was beautiful.

Next, I traveled to The Men in Bronze in Virtual Harlem. Again, I saw not a single avatar. This did not really surprise me because I have never heard of The Men in Bronze and figured this would not be a very populated area. Walking around and experiencing this place however very entertaining. When I first arrived, everything was dark and I saw stars. I was not expecting this because I have never been in Second Life in the dark thus far. Then about a minute later, everything became light again. This place reminded me a lot of a typical city with buildings that are close together as seen in the snapshot I took.

Lastly, I teleported to the Second Life Globe Theatre. This was probably the most breath taking place I visited in terms of not expecting what I saw. There were statues and fairy creatures and there was hay on the ground. They hay reminded me of the old Shakespearean times where most of their plays were acted  on. I met someone who was there to learn more about when plays were taken place. This avatar told me they were a big fan of Shakespeare. So they were obviously in the right spot. Overall, my scavenger hunt was a good experience learning about and traveling around the virtual world.

A Whole New World

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Becoming Familiar with The Virtual World

Because I have never used or experienced the Second Life before, I am very surprised at the amount of detail the whole virtual world has. I am kind of skeptical about being a part of the Second Life however because everything seems so mysterious and new to me. People can pick random first and last names and even appearances that have absolutely nothing to do with who they are in real life.  I have not spent as much time as I would like to on my appearance but when I do, I would like for my avatar to look very similar to me. Because I love wearing sweatpants most and I am the most comfortable in them, I will want to find sweatpants to wear. I want to me as best as I can because I have a hard time pretending to be something I’m not even it it’s something as simple as Second Life.  Nonetheless, I am very excited to use and become familiar with the virtual world and Second Life!

I chose the name Jordin Myrtle not for any really special reason but I have always loved the name Jordin and want to name my first child Jordin. I chose Myrtle because my favorite place is the beach and I used to always go to Myrtle Beach as a kid. The beach is the most relaxing place for me. Basically, every detail I chose about my avatar is related to me in some way.

What I wish I learned in high school

I hope I am doing this blog correctly. As I hope for this, I also wish that I learned how to blog in high school. Although that is not one of the main aspects I wish I knew, it is up there because I have been struggling trying to figure all of this out. As my Blog suggests, I am very confused.

More importantly, I wish that throughout high school, that my teachers would have put emphasis in analyzing pieces of writing and how to do that. Of course we would have to write analytical analysis but I feel like I never really got the full explanation and direction on how to do so correctly which is why now, I feel so insecure about my work once I am assigned to analyze work.

Also, I wish I would have learned how to not be afraid to have other people review and edit my work. I am always self-conscious about my work even though having someone review you work and having a second voice reading it is probably one of the best tools you can use. They can pick out spelling errors or grammatical errors that you might never see or fix. 

I hope that I can become more confident with my work and become more confident and sufficient with analyzing pieces of writing because it has always been something I wish was one of my strengths. 

What I wish I learned in high school