#online worlds

[celestite-caroline]

[psychedelic-charm]

Does anyone remember this game where you had to retrieve the missing tiki jewels to enter the Treasure Palace while learning about online safety? I sure do.

[thejaymo]

I’m sure you have all seen this clip of David Bowie talking about the Internet back in 1999 “I think we're actually on the cusp of something exhilarating and terrifying”. 

One of the things that is always missing whenever that clip goes viral is the context from which he was speaking. 

David Bowie was in the Metaverse before most people were even on the web. Here’s an overview

At the time of the recording ALL of the following was already happening and going on in his life:

BOWIE WORLD (1999)

Created by World’s Inc. in 1999, Bowie World was the first 3D virtual world created by a creative artist on Bowienet. Bowie World allowed users to experience the immersive world of David Bowie, interact with fans from around the world, purchase merchandise and meet with David in avatar form.

The 3D environment was powered by worlds.com technology and featured integrated chat room etc.

See this paper from 1996 ACM interactions, Sept-Oct 1996 journal for more details.

"He would never announce it in advance, but he would get on to the chat board and talk to us. The handle he always called himself by was Sailor," says Mr Carrington.

In 2016 daily dot went to visit Bowie World and documented their experience. there were people in the world chatting! Still! 17 years later! 

// If you’re so included you can read my experience of doing something similar. I toured Active Worlds (launched 1995) in the book Lost Zone. Hiking the Dawn of Metaverse //

Cyber Song (1999)

The same year 1999, Bowie recorded the worlds first ‘Cyber Song’.

Fans were invited to send in lyrics to help co-write a track, and 80,000 people responded. The song Bowie chose was by a 20-year-old American, about the idea of having a virtual life on the internet. 

You can find the song on the album Hours...

"What's Really Happening?"

Grown inside a plastic box Micro thoughts and safety locks Hearts become outdated clocks Tickin' in your mind

Fans were invited to watch the track being recorded live via a 360-degree interactive webcast!! back in 1999! 

The chat logs from that session are still online and archived at bowiewonderworld.com

The chat reads like literally any twitch livestream you’d read today:

*** Now talking in #BowieNetChat

Eileen: hmph - pFuRs: looking glass studios Bonster1: I like the hair especially ;) Eileen: (duh) Mechnic: his hair! *sigh* Eileen: I LOVE his hair.. Bonster1: it's getting really long Bonster1: my husband is jealous Eileen: first time in my LIFE I have actually LIKED the way he wears it LdyofDarkness: if I could be anyone's hair in the world, it would be his William: silly old man

Bowie also showed up

TotalBlamBlam: Is that Davis Bowie? Bonster: (David Bowie) yes I smell great

A potion of that chat in addition to the recording session is taken up with discussion about the (then upcoming) adventure game: The Nomad Soul developed by Quantic Dream and published by Eidos Interactive. 

The Nomad Soul (1999)

David Bowie is not only *in* the game and also wrote the soundtrack with Reeves Gabrels from The Cure!

I’ve never played the game but here’s a two line review:

In an alternate reality, all hell is breaking loose. And only one person can stop it - YOU.... sitting at your computer. That's not a witty commentary on video gaming, it's the plot of the game. And that's just the start of this bonkers bonanza. 

Lastly, for completeness I should also mention BowieNet

BowieNet (1998)

From 1998 - 2006, BowieNet wasn’t just David Bowies website with its virtual world, chat rooms, live-streamed concerts etc 

It was also the name of his ISP

Thats right, for 8 years Bowie ran an Internet Service Provider offering high speed and “uncensored” access to the Internet. 

The ISP provided every user with 5MB of web space, encouraging them to create and share their own websites. Newcomers were told they’d need at least a 28k, but preferably 56k modem connection – this was demanding at a time when the commercial WWW infrastructure was still in its infancy.

Through his Ultrastar company he negotiated deals to give users access to music services like the Rolling Stone Network, which livestreamed concerts, and Music Boulevard, one of the first companies to offer paid-for downloadable music tracks. 

For Bowie, this ISP wasn’t just a new means of marketing his material to the masses, it was the realisation of something he’d always understood about music: that the fan response completes the art. 

Anyways, hope his ‘Alien Life Form’ have a little more context. 

Bowie was in the Metaverse way before many of us were even on the web!

[maxgicalgirl]

Being a “Fun Fact !” kind of autistic is all fun and games until you get halfway through sharing an interesting tidbit and realize that it probably wasn’t appropriate to share in polite company and now you have to deal with the consequences :(

[sailor-moon-moon]

Happy Amok Time Day, friendly reminder that Theodore Sturgeon, the writer of the episode, is credited with the first positive portrayal of homosexuality in science fiction with his short story The World Well Lost (1953), 14 years before Amok Time aired. Which could mean nothing.

[nyancrimew]

"online" and "irl" are a false dichotomy, the online is very real the opposite of which is the offline, which is also very real . there's supposed to be a punchline here to make this a joke but i forgot it by the time i wrote the first sentence

[txttletale]

people online: hi! nice to see you online how's your day been :)

people in real life: its disgusting that theyre teaching woke and lgbt in the schools now. i don't want my kid to grow up ashamed of being white and a man and not an islamist transgender. i just dont see why all these immigrants cant just go back to their own countries

[goldensunset]

when people refer to canon story-relevant kingdom hearts games as ‘spinoffs’ it makes me sad not only for the obvious reasons i always say but also bc like man i WISH this series had spinoffs. imagine what they could do if they had permission from nomura to truly go off the rails and ignore the greater canon for a second and just do some fun whimsical plotless thing in an alternate universe. imagine a fishing/boating game on destiny islands. kh fighting game. it is an injustice that we have been deprived of kingdom karts. can anyone hear me

[brujahinaskirt]

arthur is rude to that one sex worker because the guys are fucking around as they oughtn't be and he actively wants the source of their distraction to go away. that is how he operates through the entire game: deliberate, utilitarian intimidation and strategic unpleasantness to achieve a goal. it is an early game commentary on arthur meant to position him as a big dog that barks. it is not a commentary on his views about women which are clarified many times afterward. you guys realize that right

[ionlydrinkhotwater]

My hc is that not only do Neil and Kevin host their own Exy Podcast as a side hobby but at one point Kevin is explaining a very funny Exy anecdote and the two of them Crack up so hard that the fans realise that Kevin's real non-public persona laugh is filled with cute hiccups and snorts. And that Neil Jostens laugh is adorably wheezy

The public would be OBSESSED (like me)

[aardvaark]

considering nate & maggie are said to have worked together sometimes, collaborating to discover art fraud pre-leverage… i’d like to imagine that maggie has at least heard of the leverage team members in passing. she wouldn’t recognise them in a crowd, but she’s familiar with big names in the art theft & forgery world. she’d have SOME expectations of what they were like. and then in the second david job, she’s meeting them and they’re. them. like-

what she knows about parker: worlds greatest thief, seems more interested in banks but certainly an art thief, too. nate says she has a reputation for being "insane".

what she assumes about parker: probably does some great grifting to get into those museums and vaults, been a world class thief for ages so she’d be in her late 30s at least by season 1. dangerous, formidable, scary, do not approach.

what she very quickly learns about parker: is a duckling who has imprinted on her

[radiation-risk]

Reminder for anyone scared about KOSA

KOSA has a good chance of not passing! The Senate is only the first part, and even if The Senate doesn’t pass the bill, it’ll go to the house, which has even more opposition! Still, don’t refuse to call, as your call may help oppose the bill! I cannot call, but please, pass on this message along with anything else you reblog regarding World/US events, it may save our fandoms!

[rainbowresurrection]

For the love of god I need to see every single star trek episode Theodore Sturgeon has ever written

[thejaymo]

World(view) | 2327

Written down this way, world(view) suggests that the world is outside of – and much bigger – than any single perspective of it from within. Full Show Notes: https://www.thejaymo.net/2023/08/13/301-2327-worldviews/

[headmaster-merle-ambrose]

I shed a tear for my fallen friends.

[herhimthem]

So, today I was on Reddit reading about KOSA, and I found this on r/AO3

Here's the Invest in Child Safety Act, it only has *five* cosponsors compared to KOSA's sixty-three.. wonder why..

I have a feeling most of the Democrats supporting this bill have fallen for the "We're protecting the children!!" farse. So, let's not just tell them the problem, but offer a solution!

It's not PERFECT, but it's a better privacy legislation than KOSA, and I suggest mentioning that that's what we want: Better privacy legislations.

Please post this on other sites, on Twitter, TikTok, other Reddit pages, etc. I only ask that you cover-up my username :]