All change

September 10, 2008 Leave a comment

I’m not sure how I feel about the Republican ticket now; I swing between conviction that McCain/Palin have no hope of election, and a horrible, gnawing fear that they might just pull it off.

The GOP strategists have obviously figured out that “experience” and “continuity” are not themes that are going to win many votes at a time when the country looks as if it is headed straight to economic hell, so they have decided to vie with the Democratics for the mantle of “change”. Suddenly McCain is a “maverick” again, ready to storm Washington and kick out the special interests, gun-toting God-fearing Everywoman Palin by his side.

The gap between the Republican propaganda and reality is surely too wide for even the best advertising to bridge. McCain’s campaign is run by lobbyists. He has supported Bush on practically every issue of importance in the last eight years. Palin, supposed scourge of the earmark, hired teams of lobbyists to gouge Federal dollars for her small town when she was mayor, and as Governer has continued gorging in the Washington pork-barrel.

There can be no way that they will get away with this flagrant reinvention of history, can there? All Obama has to do is point out the facts, right? The US electorate knows when it’s being lied to, doesn’t it?

But Obama and McCain are neck and neck in the national polls, it’s too close to call in the swing states, and the Republican base is looking more energised than it has done in months. They’re beginning to believe that they can win this thing. I can only hope that their judgement on that is as poor as it is on everything else.

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Palin into insignificance

September 4, 2008 Leave a comment

On the other hand, the Presidential race is just heating up, and browsing Google News, looking for the latest on the car-wreck that is the Republican ticket may just consume all my online hours.

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Back on track

August 31, 2008 Leave a comment

I should have a bit more free time this month, and, since the summer is over, it won’t seem such a waste to be sitting indoors in front of a computer screen, living in a virtual world, rather than outside enjoying the corporeal pleasures of the real one.

I’ve got a specific Second Life project in mind, which, if I actually get round to it, should give me something to write about.

I know I’ve said this before, but I really am going to try to get this blog into gear sometime soon.

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Thinking to do in Denver

August 30, 2008 Leave a comment

Catching up with the news from the DNC has raised my level of interest in US politics again, after a spell when I couldn’t be bothered with it. I figured that the Democrats had blown it again by picking the wrong candidate, thus landing the rest of the world with four more years of Republican nonsense.

Having watched Obama’s speech, read the contributions of the Clintons (say what you like about Bill and Hillary, but you can’t deny that they know the meaning of party discipline), and felt the general mood of excitement amongst the rank and file, I had been feeling a bit more optimistic.

But now McCain has picked Sarah Palin as his running mate I’m filled with doubt again. It’s obviously a transparent bid for the votes of disaffected Hillary supporters, and it might backfire – it undermines the GOP’s ability to hammer Obama for his inexperience, and it increases concerns about McCain’s age and health – but in a close race it might just be enough to carry the day. Brilliant or stupid? We’ll know in November.

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Golden Years

August 22, 2008 1 Comment

So, despite my scepticism, it turns out that it is possible to make a living by working in a virtual world.

The BBC report sums it up:

  • Research by Manchester University shows that the practice, known as gold-farming, is growing rapidly … In many online games virtual cash remains rare and many people turn to suppliers such as gold farmers to get money to outfit avatars with better gear, weapons or a mount.

The full paper is available here.

The opportunity seems to be limited to MMORPG’s like World of Warcraft though – I can’t see how the model would translate to Second Life, since Linden dollars can be purchased directly, without the need to employ anyone to spend time “farming” them.

The returns are hardly stellar by western standards – £77 a month on average. Unsurprisingly, 80% of the trade is based in China, where that represents a decent income. Still, if things keep going the way they are, gold farming might start looking like an attractive prospect here too.

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Alone Again Or

August 2, 2008 Leave a comment

I just visited Second Life for the first time in about a month, to find that my annoying neighbour has cleared off of his property, taking his inconsiderate landscaping with him, and restoring my view to one of virgin mountainside:

You can see that I changed the colour of my house from garish blue to a more subdued green, so it wasn’t that that made him move. Maybe he had one of those sub-prime mortgages.

I shouldn’t gloat though – the land is up for sale again, and the people who move in next might be even worse.

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Diane …

July 3, 2008 Leave a comment

It might seem that I have been idle over the last month; but not so. I have in fact composed several high-quality posts; unfortunately I am much better at thinking about things than actually doing them.

Also, I think that my reluctance to put anything down in writing stems largely from the fact that my words always seem witty and profound when they are in my head, but sadly cliched and banal on the screen.

I should maybe get a 3G phone so that I can post stuff while I am out and about. Or carry a dictaphone, like Agent Cooper in Twin Peaks.

I once visited Snoqualmie, in Washington State, where they filmed Twin Peaks. It’s a nice place. They have a big log right on the High Street. I had coffee and cherry pie in the diner. Come to think of it that might have been in nearby North Bend, where they also shot some scenes. I also went hiking in the hills, and nearly froze to death. (That’s another, and altogether more interesting, story. I should write something about that sometime. Just after I type up all my other good posts).

I never did get to meet Laura Palmer though.

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End of the dream

June 5, 2008 Leave a comment

So it looks like Obama rather than Clinton for the Democratic nomination. I still think he’ll struggle against McCain, but we can only live in hope.

What about an Obama/Clinton ticket? It would make sense from the party point of view, since Hillary would bring in the votes that Obama needs – Hispanic, Asian-American, blue-collar. The fact that Hillary seems open to the idea speaks volumes for her, since her acceptance of the VP nomination would more or less guarantee an Obama presidency for 8 years, which would put paid to her own hopes of getting the top job. Without her his chances of success are much less, and if McCain does win then Hillary would be well placed to pick up the nomination in 4 years time, and with it the presidency, since another term of Republican misrule will surely render any GOP candidate unelectable.

But I can’t see such a dream ticket happening. Obama has made too much of the “change” theme to take up with a Washington insider like Clinton. My guess is he’ll go for Bill Richardson.

The next 5 months are going to be interesting…

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Happy Birthday

May 24, 2008 Leave a comment

In two days time this blog will be one year old. I’m feeling quite pleased that I have managed to keep it going this long, and without any massive gaps. I’ve averaged about one post a week, which is pretty good, and about 10 hits a week, which is not so great, but not completely hopeless. I’m not sure how many blogs reach their first birthday, but since ex-bloggers outnumber active bloggers two to one, I’m guessing that it’s not many. My Technorati ranking has dropped from an initial 3297860 to a slightly-disappointing 5137428, but I’m putting that down to blog-inflation rather than an actual drop in popularity, or, more accurately, an increase in non-popularity.

This blog’s continued existence is even more impressive when one considers the fact that it has been almost completely devoid of interesting content, and, especially over the last few months, has had very little to say about its supposed subject, Second Life.

The fact that I am posting this today, instead of on the actual anniversary, goes some way towards explaining the low level of SL-related comment. I’m not going to be able to post for a few days, because I have much more interesting things to do in my real life.

The sad fact is that, in my experience (and most SL members agree with me, if you believe Wikipedia), Second Life just isn’t very exciting. Most of the time there seems to be no one else around. There are places that are guaranteed to be busy – you can probably guess the kind of establishments I’m referring to – but even those locations get dull pretty rapidly.

I have had a few interesting interactions on the grid, but nothing that’s really added to my knowledge of on-line psychology. I’ve learned more from a few hours reading journal articles than many, many hours spent wandering round deserted shopping malls looking at virtual shoes.

My hopes for this blog may have remained unfulfilled, but I’m going to keep it going anyway. I may find myself able to devote more time to the project, and I guess it is possible I will find some interesting facets of SL that I have hitherto overlooked. I might start posting up more links to other interesting sites, which, after all, is what a blog is supposed to be for. And I’m sure I’ll have a few more things to say about the US elections, even though Hillary’s campaign looks dead in the water.

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Slipping Away

May 7, 2008 Leave a comment

Clinton’s fairly convincing victory in Pennsylvania was encouraging, but Obama has come surging back in North Carolina, and Hillary didn’t win by much in Indiana, so it’s looking almost certain that Obama will be the nominee.

In terms of policy it wouldn’t make much difference – he would probably get the troops out of Iraq a bit sooner, she has a better health plan; either of them would make a perfectly decent President.

My worry is still over Obama’s electability. McCain could win in November, which would be an absolute disaster for the US, and the rest of the world.

I’m sure Hillary will be President one day; I just hope it’s in 2009 rather than 2013.

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