Claire's Reading Diary

"A Rape in Cyberspace"
This reading kind of confused me at first. I did not understand why the person being "raped" would not just sign off and come back later. Why would she stay in harms way? But as my understanding of virtual life grows, I realize that it is a place people go to get a way from the real world, and being violated in the virtual world can be just as harmful as being violated in the real world.
In the article when I learned that Mr. Bungle was a group of kids, it made more sense to me. The virtual world is new, people are going to test it's limits. It makes more sense that a group would test the limits then an individual, because the back lash of it would be amoung the group.
Lastly I do not get the point of killing in the virtual world, since any one could just make another person, as Mr. Bungle did.

"The Virtual Community"
The virtual community is a place to "dissolve boundaries of identity." It allows people to live their dreams and fantisys. It is like playing make believe when you were a kid, with people all over the world. It allows people to relive childhood.

"Secound Life Sketches: The Island of Lost Souls"
Thie secound life island gives people a place memorials for people who have died in the real world. It is a virtual grave yard, that people can visit. It gives people another way to say good bye to people they have lost.

"Virtual Reality TV: Big Brother to Launch SL"
Can we have reality tv in the virtual world? I have not really explored SL yet, do they have tv's? Where is this show going to broadcast. It seems like it is taking a step to far, do we need reality tv in the virtual world, don't we have enough of it in the real world?

"Artist Stuggle but Don't Strave in Second Life"
Artist are selling virtual art to people in secound life. Where do they put it? I don't get why people spend real money to buy things that they can only view through the computer.

"Amsterdam Sold for US 50,000"
This is really mind boggling, people spent 50,000 dollars on ebay to buy virtual land. I guess it is an investment, because people pay to stay there in secound life. But why spend 50,000 dollars to by pictures of a place you could visit in real life for less. In a virtual vaction you only get away for a few hours, when you could spend the same money and go on a real vaction.

"Rival Second Life Stock Exchange Merge"
The two stock exchanges in second life are merging into one. One only was selling stock for one company. The exchange now will sell stock of seven company's and be called World Stock Exchange. It has the same idea as the NYSE in the real world. The merge is supposed to make it easier to trade.

"Top Women's Apperal Makers Should Raise There Prices: Study."
A study recently discovered that people are willing to spend more money on SL cloths for there avitars. The study show that the apperal makeres should sell pants for L100 and jackets for L150, because 25 percent of the people surveryed said they spent more then L2000 a month.

While SL seems to be growing rapidly, i just do not seem to get it. I cannot imagine spending money on things for my avator, or even spending hours of time in SL. I feel that my life is busy enough and I barly have time to get my things done. I could not imagine having another life, with more stuff to do.