So...What's Next?!?

I am inspired to try Second Life again

I learned about Second Life two years ago. It took me a year to attempt to create my avatar and venture in. I did not have the time or patience for it and so I moved on.

However two things have happened this week that make me want to try again. One is I am back to playing Rock Band again. I really like my avatar Jasmin. She has a good image and attitude - which is all computer generated, but still feels inspired by me. Two nights ago I finally ventured online to play against some others in the online community. It was really cool to see other people's avatars and although again the movements and attitudes are computer generated, I was getting into how the avatars were responding to each other.

This got me to thinking about Second Life again and how the users are in control of the movement and attitudes and I really started to understand the psychology behind virtual worlds a bit more.

Tonight I had a meeting with my interns, one of which is my designated virtual world expert. She was showing me around Second Life and I got the urge to want to "go in.' So I think this weekend I will try once again to make a half way decent looking avatar and venture in-world.

I will be posting more about the project that my interns are working on (the t-shirt should give you a hint) this Sunday  over at the corporate blog. It is actually really cool and a lot of fun.

Destroying Humanity Through "Process"

Today I googled "Xbox Live, Rock Band, Drum Pedal" to figure out who I needed to contact to replace our broken drum pedal .

I came to the XBox site and called them first. You probably already know that XBox is a Microsoft product, and so I was dealing with the Microsoft "process."

What this means is that through the automated phone system I could not find an option that would get me the help I needed, so I opted to speak to someone. The gentleman whose fate it was to help me today was obviously not in this country. I have no problem with outsourcing, except for one. Any part of a company that is outsourced has to have very specific processes in place in order to ensure quality and consistency. Imposing such strict processes on something that involves human interaction dehumanizes the people involved.

As an example, here is the tale of two companies.

Company 1

When the gentleman representing XBox answers the call, he cheerfully greeted me, asked me my name, asked permission to call me by my first name, listened to my situation, and repeated my situation back to  me - just like his script told him to do. He then assisted me in locating the serial number on the XBox, noticed that I had not registered it, took my information so that it was registered and then proceeded to check the database to find a solution to my problem. When the database informed him that I needed to contact the manufacturer, he cheerfully attempted to give me a long explanation of the situation. At this time his accent was starting to get a bit thick and I could barely understand him, so I asked him to simplify his answer, can they get the part for me, if not who do I need to call? The simple answer was no I needed to call the game manufacturer. Once we had the answer he wanted to provide me with a case number. I asked him not to, that already 15 minutes of my time had been spent to get a very simple answer. I explained to him that he was very nice, that I understood that I needed to call the manufacturer and that was not a problem, but my patience was already spent on the process it took to find out that they could not help me.

Company 2
I look at the box the game came in, notice the web address http://www.rockband.com. I visit the site, find a phone number and call. My call is  promptly answered by a kid who was probably in the middle of playing Rock Band. I explained the situation to him, he apologized in a tone that suggested he was thinking "bummer!" He then allows me the time to brag that it was my 7 year old son playing songs on the hard level that broke the pedal. He tells me about his nephew who is a video game genius. He takes my information and assures me a new pedal will arrive at my house in 7 business days. By this time I am driving to an appointment, which he realized and asked if I wanted to write down the confirmation number or just have it emailed. I told him to email it to me which he did.

In a nutshell - process kills humanity and it is human interaction that makes customers feel like they have been taken care of.

I have felt bad for the gentleman on the first call all day today. He is just doing a job, probably for less money than I made when I was 12 and picked strawberries over the summer, and he has to deal with people like me all day, every day and all he has is his script.

A Sad Day on Rock Band :(

My 7 year old son has progressed to playing most of the songs on Medium and a few on Hard!

Perhaps a bit too Hard...

Rock Band Rock Star

Appreciation Through Game Play

I finally was able to get past the Metallica song,  Enter Sandman on my medium solo guitar tour of Rock Band.

I am not a fan of Metallica, but I have a new appreciation for their music.

In fact, I am not a fan of many of the songs on Rock Band, meaning they are not songs that I would load on my iPod - but I have learned to appreciate them now that I have been attempting to "play" them.

My brother is visiting me this weekend. His son (my nephew) is 18 years old and has been a "gamer" for as long as I can remember. He also has Rock Band and is highly ranked on the guitar. When I was struggling through Enter Sandman my brother jumped on the phone to see how well my nephew had done on that song.

I found that interesting. The pride in the idea that his son is good at playing a guitar on a game. I personally feel the same pride with both my boys playing drums on Rock Band - yes even my 6 year old is getting through a few songs. At one point I almost felt guilty that I enjoy watching my oldest son play drums on Rock Band more than I enjoyed watching him when he was in band at school.

Last year he decided he did not want to play in the band anymore. He had been in band for three years playing percussions, he took piano for a year, but he was no longer interested in music...until Rock Band.

Personally I have always thought I lacked rhythm and coordination to play an instrument - yet I am moving through Rock Band on  guitar, bass and drums.

Of course I realize this is not the same as learning an instrument. The drums are pretty close to the real thing, but the guitar is not. However it is providing an appreciation and for my youngest son an early introduction to music.

I am a huge believer in music education. Learning rhythms and patterns helps with math aptitude, music allows us to express our human emotions and expressions. Music is very important, however music education in our schools, besides lacking funding, often times does not draw many students in. The reason my son quit band was because he was bored. He is rockin' on Rock Band though...and definitely shows talent.

I started thinking about "what if schools had a Rock Band game in every music class?" This got me to thinking about something that Timothy Moenk has been advocating since I met him, Games and Learning.

According to this website that he shared with me;

Games and play can be effective learning environments, argues Richard Van Eck, not because they are fun but because they are

• immersive;
• require the player to make frequent, important decisions;
• have clear goals;
• adapt to each player individually; and
• involve a social network.⁶

I can see the value through music, but what other games are out there that teach skills, and how can we implement them to enhance our learning. Also with the ability to connect and play with people from all over the world, we can enable our children to learn and interact with various cultures. When they are learning about Asia, they could take some time to play with children in Asia. We have the means, we just need the will to make this world a better place.

Know what's missing from most people's lives? The realization that nothing is missing from their lives.
- Notes from the Universe

Giving Up Control

This is what I learned while playing Rock Band today.  I learned to set goals and to stop trying so hard.

I got through the entire solo career on easy - but my scores weren't great. So I went back in and set the goal to score 5 stars on each song.

I am actually getting through most songs on the first try achieving 5 stars. How? By giving up.

I gave up thinking, trying, or critiquing. I am just playing. As I am playing my thoughts sometimes shift to work, home life, to-do lists, and that is when I notice that I play poorly - so I give those thoughts up and just play.

My husband is a musician, a very talented musician. He mostly plays by ear though. He plays Bass, Drums and Piano by ear and can put some things together on guitar by ear. He tells me the trick is to "feel it."

I tend to live in my head - which means I tend to "analyze it" that also can translate into "controlling it." I think what Rock Band taught me today is that the control inhibits the flow. I need to go with the flow.

Set my goals and feel my way through it one song at a time.

Today' Quote...

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body—but rather a skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, 'Wow, what a ride!' "