I've started CampCampus.com with a few very talented grad students here at IU during the last couple of weeks. That's been a great distraction as I procrastinate on the big D (aka Diss). I'm also learning a little about database intergration to make dynamic Web sites/pages (hopefully using PHP and MySQL). This is actually VERY necessary for the creation of SimTeacher which will heavily depend on a database-driven backend (for user personalization and story archiving and generation).I've also been reading articles related to educational simulations and online education, which has been a tiring exercise in self-discipline. I'm currently contemplating what all early dissertation writers contemplate--a rigid schedule to adhere to. Should I study for 2-3 hours a day, then play (or do whatever)? Or should I dedicate entire days to the Diss and then take entire days off (perhaps alternating each day)? I'm looking for my personal rhythm. My current goal: Have a complete first draft of the proposal by the end of the month (at which time I will have it available for download off this site).
Not much happening here lately. I just got back from a half-week in North Carolina and two-weeks in San Diego. I should start posting progress here within the next week.
Not much diss progress since the last post. I have a week and half left of teaching summer session 1. After that (I tell myself) I will stop "diss-ing the diss" and start serious studying.
Read a few articles today and entered quotes and concepts from them into a database system. One article was on "virtual sex." It was a good read. Ohhhh, was it a good read! There's no group more sexually repressed than those in academia. Here's what I extracted out of that article, in my own words...Some experts claim that in the year 2020, technicians will perfect visual-auditory-tactile virtual environments. And like all communication technologies invented (movies, telephone, Internet, and so on), some will use virtual reality in the name of lust and for sexual gratification.
Newsweek published an article (Yahlin, 2000) on January 1 of 2000 about the potential and ponderance of "virtual sex." You may be able to feel what it is like being the opposite sex or turn your lover into someone else without he or she knowing it. Of course, your lover could be doing the same thing to you. You could both be on a tropical beach or in outerspace. You would both become elephants (which would boost some male egos) or perhaps you and your partner will become a couple of fleas on an elephant's back. By 2030, nanotechnology will have replaced the clunky VR headsets that some associate now with virtual reality simulations. After swallowing or injecting nanobots, they may temporary reside in the capillaries of our brains, completely convincing us of an all-encompassing fantasy world for, say, 2 or 3 hours. Those that last 2 or 3 days may be illegal.
Virtual sex is disease-free and pregnancy-free. Monogamy and fidelity would have to be refined in these new contexts. Someone could have virtual sex with you at will, anytime and in any imaginary setting, freeze frame it, make it last for hours, without you ever knowing it. Nothing beats the real thing, yet.
SOURCE: Chang, Yahlin. (2000). Was it virtually good for you? Newsweek. 134 (26), p. 71.
...not sure how this fits into my dissertation yet, but I'm sure I'll have to talk about virtual reality in some chapter. Maybe I'll have to experience some v-sex for the sake of scientific research.
Not much this week. I started teaching W200 to make some extra summer money. I ran a half marathon in Indy last weekend and am running a full one (26.2 miles; 4 hours) this weekend in Cincinatti. Got to get physically in shape for the dissertation, you know.
Today is the "official" launch of the "official" dissertation Web site. Accept no imitations! Nothing grand is posted here yet, but the splash page on the left and this news page here on the right is in place. I will update this news page at least once a week let you know how I'm progressing. Of course, more features and rich content will be added to this site as the months past by. Thanks for stopping by!
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