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Author: Julian Dibbell
Publisher: Julian Dibbell
Published: 1998
Total Pages: 356
ISBN-13: 9780805036268
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →This novelistic rendering of a true account tells of a celebrated rape case which took place in an electronic "salon", where Internet junkies have created their own interactive fantasy realm.
Author: David J. Chalmers
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 2022-01-25
Total Pages: 544
ISBN-13: 0393635813
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →A leading philosopher takes a mind-bending journey through virtual worlds, illuminating the nature of reality and our place within it. Virtual reality is genuine reality; that’s the central thesis of Reality+. In a highly original work of “technophilosophy,” David J. Chalmers gives a compelling analysis of our technological future. He argues that virtual worlds are not second-class worlds, and that we can live a meaningful life in virtual reality. We may even be in a virtual world already. Along the way, Chalmers conducts a grand tour of big ideas in philosophy and science. He uses virtual reality technology to offer a new perspective on long-established philosophical questions. How do we know that there’s an external world? Is there a god? What is the nature of reality? What’s the relation between mind and body? How can we lead a good life? All of these questions are illuminated or transformed by Chalmers’ mind-bending analysis. Studded with illustrations that bring philosophical issues to life, Reality+ is a major statement that will shape discussion of philosophy, science, and technology for years to come.
Author: Deanna A. Thompson
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Published: 2016-11-01
Total Pages: 131
ISBN-13: 1501815199
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →We live in a wired world where 24/7 digital connectivity is increasingly the norm. Christian megachurch communities often embrace this reality wholeheartedly while more traditional churches often seem hesitant and overwhelmed by the need for an interactive website, a Facebook page and a twitter feed. This book accepts digital connectivity as our reality, but presents a vision of how faith communities can utilize technology to better be the body of Christ to those who are hurting while also helping followers of Christ think critically about the limits of our digital attachments. This book begins with a conversion story of a non-cell phone owning, non-Facebook using religion professor judgmental of the ability of digital tools to enhance relationships. A stage IV cancer diagnosis later, in the midst of being held up by virtual communities of support, a conversion occurs: this religion professor benefits in embodied ways from virtual sources and wants to convert others to the reality that the body of Christ can and does exist virtually and makes embodied difference in the lives of those who are hurting. The book neither uncritically embraces nor rejects the constant digital connectivity present in our lives. Rather it calls on the church to a) recognize ways in which digital social networks already enact the virtual body of Christ; b) tap into and expand how Christ is being experienced virtually; c) embrace thoughtfully the material effects of our new augmented reality, and c) influence utilization of technology that minimizes distraction and maximizes attentiveness toward God and the world God loves.
Author: Jack Fitzgerald
Publisher: iUniverse
Published: 2022-02-17
Total Pages: 203
ISBN-13: 1663233985
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →“My take on life is that it’s a giant hors d’oeuvres tray and my approach is to have a taste of everything.” - Jack Fitzgerald Jack Fitzgerald is the author of several books and has produced many stage plays. He recently turned 89 and, in spite of failing eyesight, decided to write one last book. It had to be unique and different. Fitzgerald’s book consists of forty-two emails. They are replies to phone calls, greeting cards, and emails, none of which are in the book. What you do see though are forty-two email replies from Jack to these friends, relatives, and his readers. These emails build a matrix that in many ways is like a puzzle. From each email you will glean certain information about Jack’s life. As you proceed through the book, you will get more and more droplets of information. By the time you finish email forty-two, you will have a rather complete autobiography of Jack’s life. So, for once, you can have unusual fun reading someone’s emails and clues to their life lessons and experiences. So, get started at once on this email puzzle and begin collecting virtual autobiographical clues. Have fun on your very first virtual autobiographical puzzle.
Author: Sharon Dempsey
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2018-12-11
Total Pages: 217
ISBN-13: 1504069943
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →A serious-minded teenager and her self-absorbed, style-obsessed mother struggle to understand each other in this poignant, witty novel. Single mom Stella wants nothing more than to impress her teenage daughter—who doesn’t share her mother’s interests in fashion, social media, or partying. Instead, Tara can only cringe over the fact that her mother is famous—or at least thinks she is—as an editor at a magazine for “hot teens.” Stella has shielded her daughter from her own religious upbringing and has told her nothing about her father. But when they move back to Belfast, hiding the past becomes trickier—and the strained relationship expands from two generations to three. Meanwhile, Tara blogs about her teenage angst and begins working at a home for rescued animals run by the enigmatic Nora. When Tara’s blog takes off, a rival magazine offers to publish it as a column, putting her in a difficult situation—having to risk hurting her mother in order to achieve her own dream of being a writer . . .
Author: David A. Ross
Publisher: Open Books
Published: 2011-01-02
Total Pages: 190
ISBN-13: 145243090X
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Fizzy Oceans lives, works and travels in the virtual world where the dead are very much alive, places like ancient Babylon have been reconstructed, and with the click of a button †WHOOSH! †one is transported throughout the Ages to events and destinations that make up our human history.
Author: Erica Bauermeister
Publisher: Sasquatch Books
Published: 2020-03-24
Total Pages: 242
ISBN-13: 1632172453
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →A Real Simple Best Book of the Year A deeply moving story of an epic home renovation in the Pacific Northwest—from New York Times–bestselling author of The Scent Keeper In this mesmerizing memoir-in-essays, Erica Bauermeister renovates a trash-filled house in eccentric Port Townsend, Washington, and in the process takes readers on a journey to discover the ways our spaces subliminally affect us. A personal, accessible, and literary exploration of the psychology of architecture, as well as a loving tribute to the connections we forge with the homes we care for and live in, this book is designed for anyone who’s ever fallen head over heels for a house. It is also a story of a marriage, of family, and of the kind of roots that settle deep into your heart. Discover what happens when a house has its own lessons to teach in this moving and insightful memoir that ultimately shows us how to make our own homes (and lives) better. “ . . . for anyone who has wondered where home is and how to find it, fix it, love it, and leave it for later as well.” —Laurie Frankel, New York Times–bestselling author of This Is How It Always Is
Author: Brian A. White
Publisher: Que Publishing
Published: 2007-08-21
Total Pages: 980
ISBN-13: 0132714493
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Live your Second Life to the fullest! Create Your Virtual Life in an Incredible Online World...Right Now! Imagine a virtual landscape where everything is created and owned entirely by residents like you. Imagine a place where you can enjoy sunsets, ride a jet ski, buy land, plant a garden, get a tattoo, go sky diving, spend an evening dancing the night away, or relax at home by the fire. Picture a world vividly developed, socially dynamic, and strikingly real where you can bring previously unimaginable things to life with friends from around the globe. This is Second Life®, the hottest Internet phenomenon in years…maybe ever! Now, there’s a totally real, totally independent guide to Second Life. This full-color book is as rich as Second Life itself! It’s packed with insider tips, easy step-by-step techniques, and interviews with dozens of SL residents telling you what they wished they knew when they started! Brian White pulls no punches: You’ll learn exactly what’s great and not so great about SL...how to thrive in its unique culture, and how to create your dreams! The more time you spend in Second Life, the more useful this book will become...teaching you more advanced skills; everything from vehicle construction, Linden Scripting Language, particle systems, to creating custom animations and the new sculpted prims! Visit the companion site in Second Life to find all the textures and objects from this book as well as the contributor’s gallery and other goodies: http://slurl.com/secondlife/humuli/222/123/29
Author: Thomas Malaby
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Published: 2011-01-15
Total Pages: 176
ISBN-13: 0801457750
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →The past decade has seen phenomenal growth in the development and use of virtual worlds. In one of the most notable, Second Life, millions of people have created online avatars in order to play games, take classes, socialize, and conduct business transactions. Second Life offers a gathering point and the tools for people to create a new world online. Too often neglected in popular and scholarly accounts of such groundbreaking new environments is the simple truth that, of necessity, such virtual worlds emerge from physical workplaces marked by negotiation, creation, and constant change. Thomas Malaby spent a year at Linden Lab, the real-world home of Second Life, observing those who develop and profit from the sprawling, self-generating system they have created. Some of the challenges created by Second Life for its developers were of a very traditional nature, such as how to cope with a business that is growing more quickly than existing staff can handle. Others are seemingly new: How, for instance, does one regulate something that is supposed to run on its own? Is it possible simply to create a space for people to use and then not govern its use? Can one apply these same free-range/free-market principles to the office environment in which the game is produced? "Lindens"—as the Linden Lab employees call themselves—found that their efforts to prompt user behavior of one sort or another were fraught with complexities, as a number of ongoing processes collided with their own interventions. Malaby thoughtfully describes the world of Linden Lab and the challenges faced while he was conducting his in-depth ethnographic research there. He shows how the workers of a very young but quickly growing company were themselves caught up in ideas about technology, games, and organizations, and struggled to manage not only their virtual world but also themselves in a nonhierarchical fashion. In exploring the practices the Lindens employed, he questions what was at stake in their virtual world, what a game really is (and how people participate), and the role of the unexpected in a product like Second Life and an organization like Linden Lab.
Author: Andrew Evans
Publisher: Fusion Press
Published: 2001
Total Pages: 300
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →As the media becomes more sophisticated and lifelike, we spend more and moreime in front of television screens. Distinguished psychologist Andrew Evansxamines this warping of reality, and asks where such a path will lead us.;he 21st century presents serious challenges to us all. However, our childrenre growing up thinking the world can be saved by super-heroes, crashedlanes start again at the flick of a switch and people come back to life forhe next round. The author looks at the effects of this distortion of reality.aybe our need to escape the boredom and routine of every day life is beingxploited by the companies who make money by selling us fantasy andimulation. From humour and comedy, to science fiction and computer games,vans examines the variety of distractions available to take our minds offhe daily grind. But how does this new media affect today's children? Whatill be their future tomorrow? And have we become so reliant on escapistantasy that reality can no longer be faced?
