July – 2007 – Steffan Antonas

Loving San Diego’s La Jolla Shores

I went surfing with the guys this morning before work for the first time this summer and it was perfection. 4 ft, perfect, consistent A-frame waves – 71 degree bathwater – cloudless sky. Being out in the water at La Jolla shores and looking back on the green hills and the beach and being in the water with people laughing and hanging out before work reminded me of exactly why we moved out here — this is what southern California is all about. What a great way to start the day. I’m loving summer in San Diego. La Jolla Shores

The Open Library Aims For Free eBooks For All

The Internet Archive (the one that brought us the Wayback Machine) wants to provide free access to a comprehensive selection of books online through a project called the Open Library. Right now the library’s collection is far from extensive, but the idea is promising, and the Internet Archive is a determined archiver, so here’s hoping the project continues to improve (their new demo site looks cool).

Shift Happens

During one of our firm meetings covering how globalization will impact our firm and our jobs over the next decade, this video was presented and it sparked some pretty interesting debate and discussion on how rising countries like China and India could potentially impact the way we do our jobs, how important education is and how everyone is in a race to the top. This video – Shift Happens – is a must see if you’re interested in globalization- it’s had over a million views on YouTube in the last few months, which, in itself, shows you how fast information travels.

Gaming In Cyberspace: How Interactive Entertainment Is Changing Communication & Identity On The Net

It’s been over 2 years now since my masters thesis was published in the Georgetown Library, but I’m finding that it’s relevance is only increasing. When I was doing my research back in 2004-2005, Massively Multi-player Online Gaming Communities were a very new phenomenon – even online social networking giants like Facebook and MySpace were just starting to establish their base communities. Virtual gaming communities like Blizzard’s World Of War Craft and SecondLife since have seen an exponential leap in their popularity and online social significance. Both of these communities, along with several others, have recently been the subject of scrutiny by popular publishers like The New York Times, Business 2.0, Wired and MSNBC. And, as the focus on the social and commercial significance of online communities intensifies with large publishers and businesses, I’ve been receiving more and more emails from online-goers and researchers requesting copies of my thesis, so I’ve included a link to it below. Thanks, by the way, to those of you who have shown an on-going support for my work – I’ve enjoyed talking to each and every one of you. I wish you all luck in your academic endeavors. And, please, stop by this site frequently for updates – I’ll be posting more articles on Gaming In Cyberspace in the future!

You can download a copy of my thesis here – Gaming In Cyberspace: How Interactive Entertainment Is Changing Communication & Identity On The Net. Happy Reading!

Abstract of Gaming In Cyberspace: How Interactive Entertainment Is Changing Communication & Identity On The Net:

Currently, several million people around the globe have accounts in the virtual worlds of massively multiplayer online video games. The overall population of these virtual worlds has grown rapidly since 1996. This thesis offers an insight into interaction forms available in massively multiplayer online games by analyzing their communicative and social aspects.

The thesis aims to provide a deeper understanding of how virtual environments may be used in the future to overcome the limitations of current text-based communication, which are classified by a reduced set of intuitive non-verbal cues. The work is conducted using conceptual analysis, by applying a theoretical model that translates the perceivable interaction forms that human beings use in face-to-face interaction in the real world to virtual worlds.

This thesis will argue that that the richness of interaction within computer-mediated environments (CMEs) varies depending on the available medium, and that CMEs structure the processes of identity presentation and communication in significant ways. Additionally, it argues that the number of channels (e.g. speech, gesture or posture) and their dynamics (e.g. the simultaneous use of multiple channels) affect the overall level of richness of communication that takes place between users within computer-mediated environments that support communication. Finally, it will argue that the increased range of communicative channels that support interaction within massively multiplayer online video games can be used to overcome the limitations of current text-based communication in cyberspace, and that, as virtual worlds become an increasingly common phenomenon, they will influence the processes by which internet users communicate and present their identities online in the future.

On the Counterproductive Nature and Irrelevance of Blame

I wish more people in the business world would get how they create negative, counterproductive atmospheres when mistakes are made and blame is casually thrown around as a bi-product of scorched-egos. The following short, taken from my recent reading of What Happy People Know – How the New Science of Happiness Can Change Your Life For the Better (pg 174), illustrates clearly why Blame is pointless, especially in a team atmosphere. On the whole, the fact that Blame is rarely, if ever, productive is an important lesson we’d all benefit from…

“Imagine that you’re in a canoe with a friend and there’s a fork in the river. Your friend convinces you to take the channel on the right. Next thing you know, you hear the roar of a waterfall. What do you do?

Do you start yelling at your friend? Of course not! It’s counterproductive. You paddle like hell for shore.

Let’s say you make it. Now do you start screaming? That’s what a lot of people would do. But why?

You’ve paid your tuition — a brush with disaster — so learn the lesson: Blame solves nothing. It’s counterproductive. Irrelevant.”

- Dan Baker, Ph. D, Director of the Life Enhancement Program at Canyon Ranch.

Be Skeptical. There’s Always At Least Two Sides To Every Story.

As an African proverb says, “Until lions have their historians, all tales of hunting will glorify the hunter.”

Aristotle’s Challenge

Last night I had a hankering to revisit a book that I read in Grad School called Emotional Intelligence – Why It can Matter more than IQ. For the emotionally aware, it’s a great read, albeit a little tough going given all the neuro-psychology lingo, but it’s pretty damn intriguing. After pulling it out of the pile I’ve made in the hallway to my bedroom, and blowing the dust off the cover that’s accumulated since I’ve moved to San Diego, I opened to the first page and the first line of the book is Aristotle’s Challenge in bold italics…..

ARISTOTLE’S CHALLENGE:
Anyone can become angry – that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way – this is not so easy. – Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics.

It hit me just as hard reading it for the 50th time as it did the first. Ponder that for a second. I think you’ll agree that it captures one of life’s greatest challenges elegantly. What makes it so profound is that it’s been a good 2000 years since these words were written and it’s still just as true today as it was the day he wrote it.

The Importance of Fostering the Habit of Self-Teaching

If I had one wish, it would be that I could learn at an incredible rate. The fulfillment of that one wish would solve so much, so fast. It would be incredibly gratifying to be able to fly through a dense book in 5 to 10 minutes and retain it all — or consume an entire section of Barnes & Noble in less than a day. I’ve found myself wishing that more and more since I left school. Nowadays, a lot of projects that I take on for fun in my free time — coding a website using a new programming language or learning a new software platform, for example — can literally take months of reading and research just to get to the point where I’m technically proficient or knowledgeable enough to make any headway. Metaphorically speaking, it can be frustrating sometimes to have to crawl before you can run – but it can be so rewarding to take those first few big strides. Which brings me to the main point I wanted to make…

It’s so important to grow up with a positive attitude towards reading, towards school, and especially towards your ability to grow by teaching yourself about the things that interest you the most. I was lucky enough to have parents and mentors growing up who meaningfully stressed the virtue of intellect and academic discourse and the value of reading for personal growth. Many of my peers, especially in early childhood, weren’t as lucky as I was. Fostering the habit of self-teaching and a love of learning is easily one of the most important things a parent, mentor or teacher can do for a child, men-tee or student. More often than not, nowadays, the message that results from mentoring relationships is being delivered improperly at all levels – grades are ends in themselves, the degree is what is important and passing is acceptable if it gets you the certification. Nurturing habits that produce a desire to educate one’s self and entertain new interests is fundamental to living a fulfilling life — The result is an endless spring of inspiration and confidence. Teaching yourself things gives a unique sense of ownership and appreciation for information and it’s sources (especially people) — your command over subject matter becomes even more of a point of individuality and pride. The bottom line is that fostering a habit of self-teaching is more than just “teaching a man how to fish”, it’s “teaching a man to want to teach himself how to fish.” The difference can be powerful over a life time.

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Month July 2007