Becoming Someone Else – Part 2

Second Life can be like MMORPG games in many regards, there are ...

Open call to participate in a study on avatar identity through USC!!

A friend of mine at USC in California is doing an avatar ...

Avatar & Identity – Introduction

Ever since Vaneeesa invited me over to write a guest post for ...

New Home; Old Home

Hi everyone! We’ve moved! And haven’t! iRez: the virtual identity salon is still at our same “address” http://irez.me, but we’ve changed hosts from WordPress.com to WP Engine. When you type the URL, or search for us, you’ll go straight to the new place. But if you subscribed to iRez in the past, we can’t update […]

17 September – Say Cheese!

In the photo: Strawberry Singh Location: BWC Village I had actually done this image for my style post on my blog today, but I couldn’t resist sharing it here as well. Every photographer needs a shot of herself holding her camera, right?

World Today: “I’m a Fun Guy”

Location: Algonquin Provincial Park I’m a big fan of small worlds. I love photography of tiny things and tiny places. And no, I’m not a “guy”, but a friend of mine has a T-shirt with the phrase “I’m a Fun Guy” along with pictures of mushrooms. It’s very cute.

Gamification 5 – Psychology & Motivation I

PHILADELPHIA, 14 September –- Gamification with Kevin Werbach of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business School, Week 3! Gamification is a technique for motivation, so it ties very directly into psychology. This unit introduces the behavioral psychology concepts relevant to gamification. Class Notes — Part 5 — Psychology & Motivation I 5.1 Gamification as motivational […]

On dogs and gardeners

We’ve all heard the Serenity Prayer at one time or another: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference. The serenity to accept the things I cannot change… I suppose what made me think of this […]

Untitled by Gracie Kendal (an article about the artistic process…kinda)

I think I just realized why so many artists don’t title their work. It’s damn hard!! I am working on my newest project, a full sim installation and  I had a title, Ce n’est pas une peinture. The environment I am creating was originally inspired by my paintings. I wanted to deconstruct them in Second […]

Gamification – Homework #1

DEAR COURSERA PEEPS: I’m tweeting Prof. Werbach about the appropriateness of this post, but as he has 50,000 students! and might not be able to reply, I’m also inquiring in the course forums. I have been blogging my lecture notes, which I imagine shouldn’t be disruptive or inappropriate in any way, and would fit within […]

Gamification 4 – Game Elements

PHILADELPHIA, 9 September –- Gamification with Kevin Werbach of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business School, Week 2! The raw materials of games and gamification are called game elements. We’ll earn how to break down a game into its constituent parts and apply them to create gamified systems. Class Notes — Part 4 — Game […]

Gamification 3 – Game Thinking

PHILADELPHIA, 9 September – Gamification with Kevin Werbach of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business School, Week 2! The ways game designers approach their craft is also the way to tackle a gamification project. Seeing situations through the lens of game design is an essential skill in this area. Class Notes — Part 3 — […]

7 September – Ouch

In the photo: Strawberry Singh Location: Second Life Life – 1 Berry – 0 Lately I’ve been feeling a bit beaten up by life, seems to be getting the better of me. But I am planning to bite back and have my revenge soon. This is a remake of an image I did over two […]

Ephemera

I apologize for these sporadic postings… my dissertation has been keeping me busy, although I have to say that I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m about half way done combing through my hefty stash of data (over 1,000 pages of transcripts collected over a year and a […]

Second Life’s Communications Quagmire

In the MMO / 3D VW of Second Life, there are a variety of ways to receive information: 1. IM’s from People 2. IM’s from Groups 3. Notecards from People 4. Notices from Groups While Gmail manages to store 3GB of mail for you, SL caps out at about 3 messages! I’m joking – only […]