July 24, 2002

Cybertown has certainly come of age, hasn't it? Or is it that I've gotten broadband Internet access and a faster computer since I last set foot in there?

Checking out the lobby of the virtual Trek convention, I spotted a link to something I tried back in the 90's. For those who don't know: Cybertown is an interactive site which uses 3D first person POV imagery to enhance the experience. It's sort of a cross between a virtual homestead and IRC, where users can now get fake jobs and earn fake money to buy fake stuff to put in their fake homes, then invite other people over to check out their fake digs. Or so I gather.

The first night was interesting. I wandered the main drag and into City Hall, unable to get out. I know I could zip to another location, but I figured something I entered I should have been able to exit from as well.

Something similar happened last night. I went to some beach and got stranded on a boat, the jump command not responding. Other people seeing my plight swam to the boat, got on it, then jumped off without any problem. Well, who said holograms could swim anyway?

I entered the Sci Fi area and was greeted by nice people (probably kids, but nice is nice). One of them even referred me to an avatar site of Trek characters so I could look like the Doctor. That pretty much ruled. They like to customize there I see. That and the flat monotonous voice which came out of the speakers while I typed pretty much made my evening.

I flirted with the idea of getting a house in the Voyager or Voyager Elite Force sections, but there were no vacancies (but there was in the TNG neighborhood? I thought that was more popular). I entered the neighborhood leader's place and was blown away by all the stuff he'd bought, including a tribute for 9-11. But man you should have seen all the cars and motorcycles he owned! It was very amusing. A pity he didn't have a little PADD for me to leave a message about future vacancies...

Seven's got to see this. Besides, I have a URL for her avatar as well ;) Maybe we can get someone to make a screenshot of us together in some place. I want to get all my broadbanded friends to try this and we meet in Cybertown. There's an amusement park there we can hang out in (will I need a fake job to pay for the fake rides? STAY TUNED!!!).

I'm checking out the Sci Fi welcome area as another user looks on.

DD 12:54pm EST on Wednesday, Jul 24, 2002

July 22, 2002

Some list-using team I was looking forward to scalding wimped out and cancelled our match at the last minute, so the captains arranged for us to play a "practice" game. This means of course more booze, drugs, and redneck acros. Did I speak too soon?

After that first game I ran out of there as if I had red ants all over me. I went to play in a room of familiar people I have been hanging out with. It was a relief.

Earlier in the evening I checked out the lobby of the virtual Trek convention. What a scam. I can't believe people are paying all that money to walk around like square Borg and Klingons and see bad streaming video of pseudocelebrities. I think all those stars who participate in this are party to the crime. It's a bloody ripoff. We're not there yet to bring conventions to homes. The day they're worth $15-50 -- come ON!!! the bloated premium price is for an autograph for the extra cost you can get on eBay any old time, and you can submit a question in the next online chat or Trek site interview. Besides, the fans who want these bad enough to pay for them already have a collection of autos from those stars anyway. "Oh I don't have her autograph on one with the ponytail..." Are people that stupid? The power Trek fans wield is incredible, but they act like such thralls sometimes instead of holding out for something better.

I was surprised to see Keith DeCandido listed as an author. I remember him when he did a public access show in Manhattan 10-12 yrs ago with some chick. She did the Sci Fi stuff and he did the comics stuff. So when did he become a Sci Fi author? That's bizarre. Anyway we fell out of touch, with him getting into domestic life and me going my own way. If I tried to contact him now - seeing as how he is apparently so readily accessible - I would come off like some sort of knew-you-when type. I'm too proud to break the obscurity under false pretenses...

Anyway, I visited Cybertown. There was a link in the transporter room. I think I'll get Seven to download the plugin and arrange to meet her in the recreational area. We can write and it speaks our voices. I'm just dying to tell her with that nasally tone: "Between impulse and action, there is a realm of good taste begging for your acquaintance."

DD 11:08pm EST on Monday, Jul 22, 2002

I forgot to mention that when I got home, the computer wasn't reading the old data drives. I called Seven and she walked me through checking whether the old drive was plugged into the power supply. Sure, enough it wasn't. Despite all the trouble, I am so glad this isn't a Mac. Such a simple tweak would have cost phenomenal for a licensed dealer to do it.

DD 12:46pm EST on Monday, Jul 22, 2002

I suppose I'm one of the luckier ones, having gone for over four years without a reinstallation or format. But I still believe that had anyone possessed a greater knowledge of the Windows registry - and O'Reilly has a book for anyone who wants to - the scanner and sound card issues on my computer would have been solved without fanfare.

Instead, we waited for two hours on Saturday morning while some kid named Justin formatted a spare Seagate drive, installed Windows, then the drivers for my hardware in an effort to prove that the sound and scanner could work, and the issue wasn't hardware-related.

Okay well I knew that insofar as my own hardware was concerned. But the mofoboard and onboard sound support were in question and thusly discounted. I threw my hands up and said "okay, clean install. I will call you from home and give you the magic serial number which will make my Win98 update disk from scratch instead of installing 95 AND 98."

Before leaving, I copied the files on the C drive to its other partition. Or so I thought. When it came to c:\Windows, it barely copied anything. Not knowing this about Windows and its habits, I neglected to move over favorites, send to, start menu, system drivers, custom wallpapers and screensavers, and many other things I had hoped would ease the transition during the inevitable restoration period.

So I no longer have my disks with which to re-install QuarkXPress or Illustrator. But that's not the kicker. Since the so-called clean install, Norton won't Live Update, Pandora's Box won't start, and there is a codec problem which prevents me from viewing a chunk of my Voyager avi's with sound.

Was it worth the trouble to make multiple trips over the course of a week? Jeez.

DD 12:42pm EST on Monday, Jul 22, 2002