Wednesday, October 22, 2008 

Video Game Addiction - The Seduction of Virtual Life

The Seduction

The internet can be an escape from the world for many people, and for some people it can be an escape from themselves.

The internet has become a playground for many people to act out fantasies and take on new identities that were not possible before. This relatively new technology is allowing people to indulge in fantasies in much more sophisticated and "real" ways. The internet provides the dangerous combination of anonymity, impunity and no accountability.

Online Fantasies

Some studies show that as many as two-thirds of people who socialize online change their age or gender - But it is also often taken further. A quiet teenager in an online multiplayer game could be a powerful warlock and rule over a large virtual realm. Or an adult man could pretend to be a 14 year old boy talking to adolescent girls online. Either way, spending hours a day in this virtual identity, disconnected from reality, can lead to skewed and unbalanced real identities.

Addiction?

Although some hesitate to call it an addiction, there are clearly some people who have developed a strong dependency. Often times, getting overly involved in a secondary self is just an outlet for more serious issues. Problems at home or school or shyness and social phobia can lead people to find ways to live a life free of these stresses and anxieties. By pretending to be someone else, one can feel empowered and boost their self esteem while being acknowledged by anonymous others also in the system.

This can have a negative effect, as a person finds that they can relate less and less to those around them. As people spend more time online becoming deeply involved in a virtual identity, they can start to associate themselves more with their online selves than their real selves. Feelings of isolation can be compounded and the only friends one has to turn to are those who know you in the fantasy world.

No one knows the extent of the problem. Many people who get engrossed in another identity online will be spending much of their time in their room or a basement or a dark corner of an internet caf. The relationships that can develop through online chatting and socializing can be very real and satisfying, but without face to face interaction, there is no stability or framework for trust.

If young people become too used to interacting online where anything goes and they can be anybody, it can handicap their real social skills for the future. Online fantasy role playing can be a unhealthy escape for some people who need to confront and cope with more serious issues.

Do you play the game, or does it play you? Need to quit - Learn how http://www.choosehelp.com/internet-addiction

Learn more about the pleasures, and dangers, of virtual living http://www.troubleblog.com/internet-addiction/2008210/

In this Oct. 11, 2008 file photo, actor William Shatner arrives at the 5th annual St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Runway for Life benefit in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Gus Ruelas, file)AP - William Shatner is setting his phaser to stun against his old "Star Trek" co-star George Takei. In a video posted on Shatner's Web site Wednesday, he lashed out at Takei for not inviting him to his wedding last month.

 

Ajax Applications Development

AJAX has not only sprouted but has got root hold in developing dynamic web applications, that reflects changes in micro seconds thereby saving reloading time, improving usability, providing faster accessibility, to more web pages in lesser time. AJAX, acronym for Asynchronous Javascript And XML is the term whispered from almost every software developer mind and its waves are touching the network boundaries.

Ajax Applications Development has provided breakthrough in web application development. AJAX is a new way to define technology shifting web pages from HTML static pages to advance Java script and CSS enabled dynamic pages. AJAX is also called a free framework for fast creation of interactive cross-platform web experiences. This application has transformed the look, feel of web and has solved the major problem of web application of reloading.

Conglomeration of many technologies to form a more useful, dynamic, stronger technology - AJAX has accelerated the web world. Ajax incorporates standards-based presentation using XHTML and CSS; dynamic display and interaction using Document Object Model; data interaction and manipulation using XML; asynchronous data retrieval using XMLHttpRequest and Java Script binding together everything. AJAX uses Java script technology, HTML pages make asynchronous call to the server from which it fetches information that may be formatted as HTML, plain text, XML or Java Script Object Notation (JSON). To modify the Document Object Model (DOM) of the HTML page java script uses this content. Load of content on demand for various complex web applications has improved bandwidth usage by cutting down bandwidth consumption for complex functionalities.

AJAX is based on different server side architecture to support interaction model. Intermediate application layer, an Ajax engine (written in java script), is added in between user and server that allows asynchronous users interaction with application. This new approach has many benefits over static web applications, main features of AJAX include: Real-time form validation with server-side validation of codes. Auto-completion of form fields, better interaction and control with the use of advanced controls available. Content mix from third party application with your application is easily possible. Google Maps, Flickr, Orkut, Google Suggest are examples of AJAX application development.

Inspite of its myriad benefits, ajax application development is facing few major challenges: in-depth knowledge is required to understand upgrading Ajax functionality as it is not easy to develop Ajax that involves running complex java script code on client. Another challenge is that XMLHttpRequest object is not part of Java script technology specification, so it makes adaptablity difficult for older browsers. Even though browser add-ons have made debugging easy, processing logic embedded in client and on server makes application debugging difficult. Easy data access have provided easy way to plagiarism, except for restricted sections. Identifying particular state of application is difficult, this creates problem for user to bookmark specific application state. Also, iframe element used to populate browser history is not recommended by W3C. Websites using Ajax applications are generally not search engine friendly. Ajax has java script code that has compatibility problems with different browsers. Web analytics tracked records get cluttered with websites using Ajax technology as every event is tracked by analytics.

Careful consideration is required before implementing Ajax technology for your website to overcome few of its fallback.

Icreon, is an Offshore IT Outsourcing Company, SAP business channel partner that savvy your business needs by providing elite AJAX Applications Development solutions.
Rakhi, is a experienced SEO content writer at Icreon.com. Contact us at webmaster@icreon.com

Republican vice presidential nominee Alaska Governor Sarah Palin attends a rally in Henderson, Nevada October 21, 2008. REUTERS/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus (UNITED STATES) US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN 2008 (USA)AP - Gov. Sarah Palin charged the state for her children to travel with her, including to events where they were not invited, and later amended expense reports to specify that they were on official business.

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