Foo - So you think you spend too much time on Foo? Check this.

I'd heard of Second Life, but, as I'm still on dialup, haven't registered to check it out. I know some people who do this, though not nearly as obsessively as this fellow:

http://biz.yahoo.com/wallstreet/070810/sb118670164592393622_id.html?.v=6

Your thoughts?

badonkadonk

sorry one track mind

Sheesh, that is pretty creepy. Sounds like Mr. Hoogestraat has become a little disconnected from the real world. Speaking of that, I better go pay attention to my fabulous husband.

That is weird...Very weird. But it's no different from being on Foo all day.

That is weird...Very weird. But it's no different from being on Foo all day.

The article in the link strikes me as being sad more than anything else. However I don't think anyone here mistakes Foo for being anything like Second Life. On-line friends, yes. Entirely new personas that replace the real world, nope.

And, to my knowledge, no one here is having virtual sex. Well, except maybe in the PM rooms. ;)

The article in the link strikes me as being sad more than anything else. However I don't think anyone here mistakes Foo for being anything like Second Life. On-line friends, yes. Entirely new personas that replace the real world, nope.

Well, I for one am COMPLETELY different on BikeForums. You would not believe I was the same person if you met me in real life.

Not that the whole story isn't odd enough, but the really odd part is that (according to the article) the Hoogestraats have been married for seven whole months. I'd say that there's a little bit of trouble in pardise, and that Second Life is not the cause of it, just the way it showed itself.

I had never heard of Second Life before, but it sounds a tad creepy to me. Of course, my sole knowledge of it now comes from one newspaper article, and experience has taught me to have a healthy skepticism about any reporter's ability, even one for the WSJ, to get their facts straight. So I'll reserve judgment for now.

Speaking of creepy, how on earth did the reporter get wind of this story in the first place?

Second Life has been around for a couple of years, at least. A virtual world based on the book Snow Crash.

To me, it's not much different than many forum-type environments in that people take on a username and have an avatar. The difference is that you can actually move around in this world, and interact with others, seeing "people" and a virtual environment on the screen, in addition to words. Like somewhere between Foo and RL....

I was very creeped out by that article. I don't think that Foo or Bike Forums as a whole is anything like an online game such as this Second Life. Most of us are ourselves here as in RL. Many of us have met or hope to meet in RL at some point. Even when that's not possible, we have helped each other with RL concerns. (Remember the help folks gave in hunting down the Austin butcher of Tom's niece?)

Anyone ever read Neuromancer? This Second Life reminds me very much of something out of that novel. :eek:

sad part is, i have read snow crash, it is one of my favorite books. thats where the idea for the whole storage unit thing came from while i was in orlando

Wow: "You try to talk to someone or bring them a drink, and they'll be having sex with a cartoon." First plushies, and now cartoons? Where will it end? Where will it all end????

sad part is, i have read snow crash, it is one of my favorite books. thats where the idea for the whole storage unit thing came from while i was in orlando

What, you lived in a storage unit? How did that work out? Snow Crash is an excellent book. Do the creators of SL credit SC for the idea? Its been around in other books/movies.

I don't think this (foo) is anywhere near the same as Second Life. If SL became the metaverse as envisioned in Snow Crash, then, I could see some of us meeting there, and possibly getting up to the same sort of things. Having said that, this dude has a problem, but not as big a one as his wife. Seven Months!!??

Initial thought: wtf?

Can you get a cartoon pregnant? :rolleyes:

I'd heard of Second Life, but, as I'm still on dialup, haven't registered to check it out. I know some people who do this, though not nearly as obsessively as this fellow:

http://biz.yahoo.com/wallstreet/070810/sb118670164592393622_id.html?.v=6

Your thoughts?

Just imagine how rich his REAL life could be if he invested the same time and effort into it. What a waste and a shame ...

What, you lived in a storage unit? How did that work out? Snow Crash is an excellent book. Do the creators of SL credit SC for the idea? Its been around in other books/movies.

I don't think this (foo) is anywhere near the same as Second Life. If SL became the metaverse as envisioned in Snow Crash, then, I could see some of us meeting there, and possibly getting up to the same sort of things. Having said that, this dude has a problem, but not as big a one as his wife. Seven Months!!??

yeah, as it works out, i lived in storage unit one for a month and some change in orlando. worked in a water park, so i had access to showers everyday, washed my clothes in the hotel near by, and had internet at a coffee shop.

caved my money bought a motobecane and a tent rode home to alabama

badonkadonk

sorry one track mind



:roflmao: Especially after Merider's little declaration this morning....

oh, but that second life sounds a little disturbing.....

I was very creeped out by that article. I don't think that Foo or Bike Forums as a whole is anything like an online game such as this Second Life. Most of us are ourselves here as in RL. Many of us have met or hope to meet in RL at some point. Even when that's not possible, we have helped each other with RL concerns. (Remember the help folks gave in hunting down the Austin butcher of Tom's niece?)

Anyone ever read Neuromancer? This Second Life reminds me very much of something out of that novel. :eek:

Neuromancer was a great book.

You might check out Otherland, by Tad Williams. Wild book. When you go online, and unconcious in RL, the processing power is so great, you can't tell the difference between RL and online....

neuromancer was a good book, i love most books by Stephenson.

Ok. Foo'ers. New angle. Is it Second Life which is so disturbing, or is it the fact that some people succumb to it as a substitution for real-life interaction?

Perhaps compare and contrast with other known enjoyments/vices like, for instance, alcohol. Many do enjoy, and some become completely addicted....

Just throwin' a little fresh wood on this burning issue. ;)

Don't blame the hammer for smashing your thumb, because it was probably operator error.

Ok. Foo'ers. New angle. Is it Second Life which is so disturbing, or is it the fact that some people succumb to it as a substitution for real-life interaction?

Perhaps compare and contrast with other known enjoyments/vices like, for instance, alcohol. Many do enjoy, and some become completely addicted....

Just throwin' a little fresh wood on this burning issue. ;)I guess what disturbs me about it is that he's out there interacting as his BEST EVER self, not as his current self. The people he's interacting with like the cool, tall, slim, motorcycle-dude persona, not his kinda heavy, older, never-leaves-the-house self. He's not accepting who he really is, and all the adoration isn't for who he really is, either. That's got to leave someone feeling kind of dissatisfied, doesn't it?

At least on forums like these, chances are you're seeing at least MOST of who a person really is (unless, say, Cypress is actually an 8th grader in Arkansas who just happens to have a gun-loving cousin with a cycling tan who sends him a lot of photos...)

It's kind of weird, really, because people who have that much invested in that game are by definition people who spend many, many hours online, which implies that they probably don't have a lot going on outside of their computers. If this guy had a lot of friends IRL, he wouldn't have time to be building a coffee shop in a game. But in the game world, he's a social butterfly.

I don't know where those people would be if he needed help moving, or someone to give him a ride to the airport, you know? Real life people are important!

Ok. Foo'ers. New angle. Is it Second Life which is so disturbing, or is it the fact that some people succumb to it as a substitution for real-life interaction?

Perhaps compare and contrast with other known enjoyments/vices like, for instance, alcohol. Many do enjoy, and some become completely addicted....

Just throwin' a little fresh wood on this burning issue. ;)

If someone wants to spend all their spare time on SL, or to drink themselves into a stupor, or light up a big fat one, or whatever.

Doesn't really matter, they're only hurting themselves.

But this dude has a wife, of seven months. If he cannot see the problem with that, then, he is either a moron or some kind of sociopath.

I just read the whole article, he wed his online wife when he had only been married to the real one for 4 months! Oh, and apparently this woman lives around here somewhere. Dunno why, but that bothers me a little as well.

neuromancer was a good book
It was a great book, but I like the idea of it being fiction, as opposed to nonfiction.

Um, i'd rather be out cycling? :D

I spend my fair share playing games, but MMO games never appealed to me... Probably because of the subscription fees. :p Yeah, i'm a cheap bast4rd like that.

And, to my knowledge, no one here is having virtual sex. Well, except maybe in the PM rooms. ;)

how do i get into these "pm rooms"?



hehe, just kidding.

how do i get into these "pm rooms"?



hehe, just kidding.


Before I go jumping into just any old PM room, how can I know who's in the PM room first?
Wouldn't want to go jumping into the wrong room ya know.:eek::p

Fornicate using your actual genitals.

http://www.getafirstlife.com/

I actually played this sl for a few weeks. I found it quite a waste of time apart from all the people that cant deal with real life and become enfatuated with the avatars they created. The fact is that there are many, many people making money out of these fools that play sl. As one pays for stuff, I was completely bankrupt for my duration, (no way I'm giving ut my credit card) you can buy clothing, skins, eyes , etc etc. and if you are successfull selling stuff you can exchange it and get money as a credit in your credit card.... aha thats were real life comes in.... While I was playing I read that in Germany they had arrested and put in jail, several of these players for turning their avatars into kids and you know.... been lil sickos...
I rather be outdoors, sailing or cycling, feeling the wind in my face (as it is always upwind ) and not spending endless hours in a game where most probably no one is who they really say they are...... my .02 cents

I rather be outdoors, sailing or cycling, feeling the wind in my face (as it is always upwind ) and not spending endless hours in a game where most probably no one is who they really say they are...... my .02 cents
Not to mention your wife. I highly doubt she'd be some passive milquetoast like that guy's wife in the article. ;)

Not to mention your wife. I highly doubt she'd be some passive milquetoast like that guy's wife in the article. ;)

I'm proud to say I know how to pick them.... or did she picked me????dont really know.... but true enough that Viking Girl hits hard!!! ouch ;)

neuromancer was a good book, i love most books by Stephenson.

I believe neuromancer was written by Gibson, correct? That is, unless i misinterpreted the point of the statement...

Speaking of which, guess I know what I'm reading tonight.

I believe neuromancer was written by Gibson, correct? That is, unless i misinterpreted the point of the statement...

Speaking of which, guess I know what I'm reading tonight.


i have memory problems ignore me
but i do love Neal Stephenson books

I'd consider it cheating on his current wife. She should cut and run, or at least saunter.
And how COULD anyone fall in love with a knowingly false representation of someone else? I imagine everyone in Second Life must have washboard abs, or gigantic bazongas. Where's the fun in that?

He could likely be in much better health if he redirected that energy to becoming so. And one would think it'd be far more rewarding to take his real wife out for some real dancing at a real beach rather than watching a software sprite wiggling awkwardly around the screen.

I imagine everyone in Second Life must have washboard abs, or gigantic bazongas.

Or giant fros (http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/Patriotic_Nigras).

Yes, there are people that have even less of a first life than the average SL player. :eek:

(Careful, their article on SL itself is highly NSFW.)

Imagine your great-great-great grandfolks experiencing your current life.

Wouldn't it seem as unreal as Second Life?

People change their bodies, live extremely long lives, disappear mentally into television, never sit around and tell stories, avoid human contact in favor of email, chat rooms, and cell phones, drive cars and never interact with horses and other animals, etc etc.

Maybe we're already living in virtual reality.

Maybe we're already living in virtual reality.

neo is that you?

neo is that you?

Morpheus??? I thought you'd never find me!

hahahaha

sorry i really couldnt resist