Metatalks #3 Meta-Layers

Please remember this is a binaurally recorded podcast so headphones are HIGHLY recommended for maximum listening experience. You can subscribe here or )

Episode 3 is dedicated to @phoenix1914 who asked us in the Metatalks Bindpoint channel to cover how to begin developing ourselves in the Meta.

~Current Conversation:

Your identity in the Metaverse can consist of many layers. This Episode focuses on the nature of creating those layers to represent yourself online and the consequences of too many or too little layer types.

~Links related to the conversation:

*How to create multiple profiles in chrome: http://www.labnol.org/software/create-family-profiles-in-google-chrome/4394/

*How to create multiple profiles in Firefox: http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Profiles

*We are the people of the Internet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OT5jQCaM8Y

~Closing Song

Alexander Blu- Emptiness

http://www.alexanderblu.com/

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Binaural Recording Track: (in case you're wondering where we "are" in this Episode)

This week we're having lunch at BJs, home of the Pizookie.

Google Buzz Link to Episode 3:

Buzz: Metatalks #3: Meta-Layers

Facebook Doubletake

What the heck does anyone use Facebook for except to stalk other people? Well, according to the BBC Virtual Revolution documentary I watched with @Jemimus there are over 400 million active users on Facebook. It's the largest social networking site hosting more than 35 million user status update per day, 3 billion photo uploads per month, and 5 billion pieces of content per week (facebook statistics). This network even dwarfs my favorite site, Flickr, by a lot.

So someone like me who is heavily invested in the Metaverse has to ask what it is about this clunky, socially limiting site that actually makes it so popular. After looking at more articles on the popularity of Facebook and the site itself, I realize now why this network is so vast and most favored. It's because it DOES NOT appeal to me! It's about how the majority of people out in the "meatverse" like to connect.

Name, Age, Sex, Occupation, Favorite movie please! Sorry, no time for more exchange! Yup, that's how we interface in the RL. We're too busy, too fast pace to have the time to dig and create niche communities beyond the quick and dirty group pages. "Click Join" is a lot easier than combing the web to find people who are truly like ourselves and share the same passions. There is a great power in a global web that Facebook provides. It has allowed those in the mainstream movement of socializing to find a place on the Internet that isn't too "strange" or "eclectic" for them.

I've always looked as the Metaverse as place to delve deeper and seek branches of human thought that bloom in imagination and creativity. But the reality is that most people who take their first steps of "being online" are just looking to find the check-in counter. Where's the lobby? Facebook is the lobby. Some people will never leave this area and I think that's fine, at least they have a place to meet and greet. And hell, at least they checked in.

I won't go into the viral marketing strategy Facebook employs. I'll just say that people who gave Google Buzz such a hard time should understand that your Uncle George may not understand that it's extremely easy to get tricked into inviting his entire e-mail contact list to Facebook with just one accidental click. And while I don't get the appeal of silly beer games and farmville, I also will admit I don't get people who are into playing solitaire on their computer all day long. That is the true genius of Facebook! It ignores people like me and says, "uh.. yeah, you're not the only one. There are some people who just want to find place to keep in touch with their kids or network with their entire graduating class."

That being said, I wonder as someone who does long for more out of everything, is there a way to utilize Facebook beyond the base tool that it is? I keep meaning to experiment with the medium. Is it is as simple as consistently integrating normal web content to the Facebook page so FB users never have to leave that "lobby" and yet still access your data? Or can it be more? I guess I'm still experimenting and researching.

One of the things I find the most intriguing about Facebook is the network being used for data research. Pages have created over 5.3 billion fans of something with obvious overlap but that data and other user input I think could help generate more efficient and effective future infrastructures for communities online. Thanks to massive security flaws in Facebook, a lot of that data has been harvested and I hope something positive can come from what I perceive as stagnated space.

I created a Facebook page for MetaTalks and will be playing around with it to see if there are any potential possibilities that I may have overlooked. Sorry for the clunky URL. You don't get a simplified URL until you have more than 100 fans..something which I don't agree with because sometimes user groups for certain interests aren't really about high volume numbers. But anyhow, more importantly though, I swallowed my pride and realized it might be a tad ignorant to underestimate the power of the world's largest data pool of online metazens....even if they don't know they are part of the Meta yet. :D

Update: I was reading the PeteSearch Blog and found out he's destroying most of the data he farmed from Facebook due to legal issues. That's a shame. I kind of thought that might happen but maybe that's just his official statement and the data is still out there...somewhere.

Binaural on the Go Sample

So I invested in an H2 Handy Recorder and it arrived on Friday! I was so excited to try out the ability to go mobile with my binaural mics. There is only so much I can test and experiment with in my office. With the ability to take the mics mobile, I can go create my own binaural tracks so that Jeppy and I can take you guys to more places!

This is my very first recording attempt with the mobile recorder and I'm telling you I got chills listening to it and I had actually experienced the original thing! lol. If it doesn't make you shiver when you hear that car go past me while I'm collecting my mail, I don't know what will.

You can even hear the pitter patter of my dog's feet at the very end when I go back inside.

Anyhow, this is my journey to go pick up the mail in binaural. (two doors- one for the house, one for the garage, a long ass driveway, a mailbox, and back).


or
http://www.wowcastpodcast.com/metatalks/binaural/Alachiamailbox.mp3

MetaTalks Episode 2 Buzz Thread

I think I'll start adding a buzz thread for every episode because sometimes 140 chars just isn't enough :)

Here's the link to the Episode 2 Thread: http://www.google.com/buzz/alachia.me/H639ZMmAUib/MetaTalks-Episode-2-out-http-metatalks-com-eljeppy

Two people from bindpoint wrote really lovely posts sharing their stories of their intro into the metaverse. Maybe I can get them to post them onto the buzz thread for others to read. I'm not sure how private they are.

It's interesting though that even though we may have all integrated into the Meta at different points we somehow found intersecting lines throughout the timeline.

Metatalks #2 My Favorite Mexican Dish is Eljeppy

Please remember this is a binaurally recorded podcast so headphones are HIGHLY recommended for maximum listening experience. You can subscribe here ---> or )

Episode 2 is our official intro episode into the podcast where we give you our backgrounds and our journey into the meta.

~Current Conversation:
The official intro to Metatalks with background info about us and our progression into the world we call the Metaverse. Who are we? Where did we come from? Why are we here? What's the purpose of this podcast? Where did Metatalks come from? What the heck is bi-oral? lol.

~Links related to the conversation:
*Nov 02, 2007 David Wong- A World of Warcraft World: 10 Ways Online Gaming Will Change the Future
*Viddler - Jeppy's Epic Desktop Video
*Youtube- Alachia's Desktop Video
*1 Minute Video: Mentioned video of Brendan working on his laptop

~Closing Song
Pomplamoose- Cover of September by Earth, Wind & Fire
http://www.youtube.com/user/PomplamooseMusic

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Extra Content (I am deaf the destroyer!/Jeppy does 24 Intro/This is how we roll):

Funny enough, I actually decided not to edit much out so there wasn't any real meat to put into the extras.. maybe next time!

How to Start Buzz

Got a great email response back from @ashayo regarding the usefulness of Google Buzz and how to use it so I created a buzz thread in case people would like to give feedback.

You can access the MetaTalks buzz thread HERE

I'll go ahead and post my initial response here as well:

Buzz is much like other social networks in that you must garner your circle first. Even with all the hoopla of the intrusive adding of friends, unless you are one to follow everyone who follows you, you'll be missing people.

I don't like to auto-follow back simply because I've chosen to use Buzz as my core discussion social media tool and you just can't give people your sincere attention and feedback if you've got a list of 500 you are following that run the post gauntlet like twitter.

I tend to almost always follow back anyone who comments on my buzz or regularly puts feedback on other people's posts because then I know they are the type to actually want to engage in conversations and discussions and not just voyeuring (which is NOT a bad thing).

Also, if you don't think people are currently following you but you want to engage in a particular buzz convo, start one and then link to it in twitter. That's another effective way of kicking off a discussion.

I'm still researching a way to embed a buzz convo in a blog or website.

Hope this helps.