My Journey Through Online Communities: Active Worlds and EVE Online


Today, I want to share about some of the online communities I’ve been part of throughout my life. There have been quite a few, but two stand out as my homes on the net.

Active Worlds

First, there’s Active Worlds, or AW as most of us call it. It’s a 3D sandbox where you can build cities and worlds, and socialize with others. Active Worlds has been around since about 1995, providing a virtual space for creativity and connection. In Active Worlds, I go by the name Dovestar. I’ve built a few cities and created around seven different worlds. For quite a few years, I also hosted parties within the AW universe with a live DJ. Over the years, I’ve made many friends in Active Worlds. Sadly, I’ve lost some to death and others have left AW for various reasons. Like any community, it has had its drama, but in the long run, it has been a pleasure being part of that community for 28 years of my life so far.

EVE Online

The other is EVE Online, a space-based game that I believe has been around since about 2007. EVE offers a vast array of activities, from industry and mining to PvE and PvP battles. You can join or create Corporations and Alliances, making it a complex and often dramatic online community, much like any other. In EVE Online, my main character is named Nomad Ratsevod. I’ve made a lot of friends through the corporations and the alliance I’m part of. The game has its fair share of drama, but considering it includes pirate-like mentalities and warfare, it’s expected. You gain allies and enemies within the game, sometimes just to be content for another alliance or corporation, and individual players too.

So far, I am proud to be a part of both these communities and enjoy the gameplay along with the socialization within both. If you find yourself in either of these games, feel free to add me as a friend and send me a message.

Active Worlds : https://www.activewords.com

Eve Online: https://www.eveonline.com/

E-Books The Future of Written Word


A Picture of a eBook
Image via Wikipedia

With the new trend in E-Books and readers there is many sites out there offering both free and purchasable EBooks. From amazon to MobiPocket and software from both of them to enable both your pc and your mobile devices to read e-books it seems the way of paper and ink are becoming like the way of cds and dvds. The possibilities are grand for the new digital trend especially in the education sector. Just imagine the collage student can carry all of his or her books in one SD card or on her laptop. This could also lower the cost of books for both the university/collage and the k-12 schools.

  Though I have a feeling the publishing companies will either try and squash the possibilities of E-books for schools or make the cost of them the same to make it  less advantageous to go digital. Either way I believe E-books will eventually be the norm both in ones house and in the schools across America.

Below are a few links that might be helpful to those interested in E-books.

E-Book Software

Amazon’s Kindle Software

MobiPocket ’s  Software

Microsoft Reader

Uread

E-Book Sites

Amazon Kindle Books

MobiPocket.com

Diesel E-Books

Google Books

Archive.org E-books / Texts

Peace and Happy Reading
Ray Barbier

Read E-Books On a PC, Mac, I-Phone or I-pad


A Picture of a eBook
Image via Wikipedia

I wrote earlier about a E-Book found on Archive.org and the various file formats that are supported. Besides Acrobat Reader that reads the PDF files there are several other Free E-Book Reader Programs Available for PC and Mac Below is a list for those who (Like me) either can not afford a Kindle or another E-Book Reader Device and want to read The Books on My Pc/Laptop/Netbook or Mac etc..

Kindle Reader Available for Mac, pc, I phone, Android, Blackberry and even I pad.
To Get The Kindle Reader Software Go To Amazon Free Kindle Software

There is also FBReader which is available for Windows and Linux based systems. Fbreader supports several E-book formats but the main one is Epub which is used at many libraries across the U.S. To Get FBReader go to FBReader’s Homepage

There is the standby of Acrobat Reader that supports the PDF file format. and can be downloaded at http://get.adobe.com/reader/

Well Hope this is helpful for those of us out there that may want to skip paying 99 dollars or better for a Electronic Book Reader Device and don’t mind using what we have to get the many free and paid for books out there.

Well peace for now
R. Barbier

Orb Networks – Multimedia Software


orbtestOrb is a easy way to listen to your music files and watch the video files on your home pc remotely across the internet. Very useful if you travel allot and want to take your media library with you without taking up the hard drive space on your laptop or netbook. To help explain further below is an excerpt from Orb Networks FAQ located at http://www.orb.com/pdfs/press_kit/OrbFAQ.pdf

What is MyCasting™?
Orb MyCasting is a free service from Orb Networks that makes it easy for consumers to remotely view and share their live and recorded home and Internet TV, music, videos, photos, podcasts and other digital media stored on their PC, from any Internet-connected device, be it a mobile phone, PDA or laptop. MyCasting is the opposite of broadcasting, allowing you to stream your digital media when (time), where (place), and how (device) you want it.
What’s unique about Orb?
Orb Networks is the first company to offer a single solution for enjoying virtually all of your digital media remotely, using the devices you already own. There is no need to choose which technology path to go down to access your media remotely; other options are cumbersome and require an additional investment in yet another “cool” technology. Orb is free and begins with one easy download: there is no hardware or software required, and no additional time needed to catalog and categorize your digital media. You get instant access to the digital media that’s already on your PC. Just download Orb and start MyCasting.

If you wish to give Orb a try (Free Software and free service) go to : http://orb.com/en/download_orb or just http://orb.com

That’s all for now
Peace
R. Barbier