'Internet Field Trip'

Well, this week we were encouraged to delve into the online realms of 3D IM....and all I can say is that I was less than impressed.
First, I tried 'Activeworlds'. Not only did the first few attempts leave me staring at a blank screen after probing for a credit card number, I was inundated with billions of screens telling me about programs I simply must download in order for it to work. After my 4th try, I managed to do something right, and I got in. However, by this stage I had lost interest and really couldn't even be bothered working out which character I was.
The second site I went to was Haboo Hotel. Although it was significantly easier to get into, I wasn't really keen on the plain graphics. I also failed to get really keen on the fact that I could 'visit the cinema in this virtual world!!'. Yay :
After taking my little Lego-lookalike body for a stroll down these make-believe streets I found myself losing interest again.
Clearly, I wasn't fully enthusiastic about this Internet field trip.
Lastly, I decided to give the world of 3D IM one last chance, and tried IMVU.
I thought I had made a breakthrough. The registration process was easy, and I liked having a pretty detailed say into what my avatar looked like.
But once I was in....no one wanted to talk to me. I was the definition of a virtual loner.....It could have maybe had something to do with the fact that even if someone were to talk to me, I wouldn't really know how to respond, but still it's more fun to be dramatic.
So, yet again, I logged out of the labyrinth of screens and felt relieved to make it throught the 3D IM trauma unscathed.
I reallly think I'll just stick to Msn. It's simple, no fuss, I know exactly who I'm talking to because you have full power when it comes to who ends up on your contact list, and you don't have to worry about messing around with little Avatar lookalikes.
Maybe 3D IM is taking it a little too far....is it really necessary to have a virtual world inside your computer, when you can just step outside?

My sweet editing skills....

Ok so here are some of my photos after I've played around with them a little in Photoshop.


With this one, I used the 'Glow' tool to maximise the sunshine reflection on the water. I also included some text in the corner.



Basically, I didn't change the resolution of effect of the image itself. Rather, I just decided to add some printed text to explain the story of the photo and added a black border to make it more official looking.



With this one, I used the Neon tool and instead of having a blue glow, I chose the grey colour instead. Then I simply used the rotate tool multiple times, each time repeating the Neon effect to create the black in the background.




Here, I used the same Neon filter, with a Grey glow. I also cropped the image a little, and then added the words UNI BAR along the top...simply for decoration.

Unedited Photo's

The first part of the task was to take some basic photos that are not modified in Photoshop at all which represent or communicate some certain ideas. Some of these photo's may be slightly older, but I have personally photographed most of them on my digital camera.

Summer:

I took this last December when I went to America. It's atHanaumo Bay in Hawaii and is probably the nicest place ever! Anyway, it basically sums up the idea of Summer to me, considering that's where I spent my summer holiday.

News:

Now I know this isn't the conventional idea of 'news', but I think it has relevance. This was taken at Santa Monica Beach (once again from my USA trip) and if you can see, all the white crosses symbolise all the American soldiers who have died in Iraq. But what I found most interesting, was a note beside the crosses which said 'If there was a cross for every Iraqi dead because of the 'war on terrorism' the whole beach would be filled'. To me, this is relevant to the concept of news, as it is a topic heavily focused on by the media.

Unconventional:

Haha, so basically when I managed to get a dart into a brickwall. Unconventional enough, yeah?

Friends:

Colette, Courtney (aka Wally), and Katie. <3

Hi-tech:

I didn't really have a picture for 'hi-tech' so I just took something from a Google Image Search on the subject (www.hitech-j.net)


University Life:

These are my mates Kerry and Clarissa. Basically sums up what we do in our spare time at Uni ie. hit up the bar, and eat. Haha.