Archive for August 22nd, 2007
VSide
First off, I have to say I love the look of this virtual world Vside.
In-Game Screenshot
Characters/Environment: As far as this goes it’s really good. They’re smooth looking and run flawlessly at the moment in beta. The surrounding environment is looking really good and quite interactive.
Interface: I’m lovin’ this interface, seriously. An interface can usually make or break a VW and this one has nothing to worry about. All the buttons needed are located on the bottom or side of the screen with nice looking icons. Whenever something happens (you click on somebody, song changes, you enter a new area, etc) it will show on the left.
Features: The site as a friend list and ignore list as can be assumed with all major social sites. It also included AIM integration as well (thought I haven’t tried it yet since I can’t remember my password. Shut up). From what I read, it will allow you to simply run AIM inside the Vside client.
The site also includes quite a large list of available actions (which most newer ones do) how this one is very intuitive as well. For instance, if I type the sentence “Hehe, sounds exciting” my character will make a giggling action. It’s quite the interesting concept, and I think I kinda like it.
They have an odd system of “respekt” in game, that changes the user’s rank (newbies, junior, etc). That makes sense and seems like a good way to differentials between newer members and vets, but the way that they point are given out seems a bit shaky to me. Users can get respekt by exploring the map (which is fine) but also by adding friends. Within 10 minutes I saw people just adding all random people. Flawed system (just a bit :p)
Another great (and I use that loosely) feature is the music feature. Each area has it’s own station/playlist of music. It’s actually really well done because unlike some other systems this runs without slowing down the play depending on if the music on/off. It also has a smooth transitional fade between locations’ music, which adds a nice realistic effect. Now if only they weren’t playing so much rap it might be a little more favorable.
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More: The age groups seem to be varied from what I can see. When you click a character you get to see a blip of info on them such as age, rank and location. I was talking to a 15 year old one minute then a 35 year old the next which makes things interesting.On the back end, the site also has extended profiles that users can fill out which makes a nice feature for those who like to share every detail of their lives with people.
As far as content creation goes it looks like there is none. All content is created by the Vside company. This leaves for a more stable environment in the long run, but will mean that user interaction with the company will be limited. The site also features moderation, which is a needed feature that many sites are putting on back-order for ‘cool features’ and the such.
This site is definitly something to check out, even just to admire the looks.
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Movie: Superbad (Review)
OMG OMG OMG! Superbad is fucking great. Be it the dick jokes or McLovin, I’m lovin’ it. If I were to have sex with one movie, it would be this one. As far as comedies go, this one hit it on the nose. I might go see it again, and I’m sure as hell going to buy it on DVD when it comes out. This movie has beaten out both American Pie and Clerks for my #1 favorite comedy of all time. Today.
I’m not going to give away anything about the movie, just
GO WATCH IT NOW!
Total: 10/10 “Yeah…I heard that was supposed to happen in health class”
Also note, whoever can find a ’secret message’ in this post relating to the movie wins…I dunno. Just see if you can figure it out.
I Quit. Damn.
Well, I’m a big quitter. Yep, I quit my job after 1 five hour shift, I just couldn’t do it. I honestly felt like I was killing babies or something. All I really had to do was call up and say “Hello my name is Jeff calling on behalf of CMHC, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. May I ask you two minutes worth of questions?” and it SUCKED. Do you know how hard it is to say to some random person on the phone and not get hung up on? It’s not like saying “Hi I’m calling from Wendy’s” or something short and to the point. If I just said “CMHC” that might be ok, but then they wouldn’t know what it was. If you hear the word ‘Canada’ that’s OK, but when you have ‘Mortgage’, ‘Housing’ and ‘Corporation’ you’re going to assume they’re trying to sell you something. It would be a lot easier if they used something shorter, because there is no easy way to get through that intro without sounding like a telemarketer.
As far as the actual calls go, about 1/5 of my calls were ‘busy circuits’ so it just said “This number is not available, please try again later” so I had to set it to put the number back into the sample for +1 day. I can do that. 1/5 was no answer, easy. 1/5 was an answering machine/voice mail so again that’s not too bad.
That leaves 2/5 left; those are the 2/5 that had real people on the line. In 5 hours time, only six (yes 6) people actually allowed me to complete the survey. It’s not even a long survey, it really only does take like 2 minutes. The longest the survey can be is 7 questions long and they’re all multiple choice. Six is horrible when you take into account that I called over 300 people. So being hung up on by 294 people really makes you feel like shit. Yes I know I shouldn’t be taking it personally, but here is the catch: They are comparing you to the other remote agents and you can see it.
On the left side of the screen at all times there are 2 bars with green at one and and red at the other with a marker on it. Your goal is to keep your bar in the green. The bar is based on how quick you dial, how quick you input the status, completed surveys and how quick you pick up the next call. Well my little marker was in red the WHOLE time. I thought I was doing well, less than 5 seconds between calls and had my macros going, so was at a pretty steady pace. Wrong, it was in red. The other bar is how all of the other remote agents are doing and of coursed it’s in green.
In short, I was doing horrible and I knew it. Not only was my bar in the crapper, but sitting hunched over the keyboard with one hand on the headset earphone left my back and neck hurting like a bitch. Add the headache of knowing that I’m completely blowing it on my first shift and I don’t feel too well to say the least.
I thought this was going to be easier than telemarketing would be, but I really don’t think it is. People don’t hate people trying to sell them stuff on the phone, they hate being called period. I know I sure as hell hate when somebody calls me trying to get me do anything, be it buying or answering a survey or even just annoying chit-chat in some cases. I really didn’t feel my heart was in this job, and I’ve never been a fan of phones at all really so I have no idea why I even took it. Suppose because it was the first people that called me back.
Oh well, already sent in my resignation and feel better about it. It’s said that after every long relationship the best thing to get you to move on is a one night stand. Why can’t it work with jobs too? Two and a half years at a job, a quickie being a phone prick and now I can move on. I noticed a few help wanted signs around the other day, so I have more places to apply to. Once I put those out and with the other ones that are already floating around I’ll have around 37 or so out there. Wish me luck.
And remember that if you happen to see anything I might be interested in (be it customer service, maybe a tech job or hell even blogging or something) let me know. In fact, anything that’s not going to ask me to pay cash out to make money let me know and I’ll take a look at it. Or you can just send me money, I accept all major credit cards, Debit transfers, Linden dollars and PayPal…can’t say I didn’t try. .I wonder if the local university has any interesting science experiments going that I can sign up for… >:D
Movie: Kickin It Old Skool (Review)
Now I’m a fan of Jamie Kennedy, but Kickin It Old Skool isn’t his best work by far.
The plot was OK, but wasn’t anything new. I can’t put my finger on the movie at the moment, but I’m certain that I’ve seen the ‘in a coma and wakes up 20 years later’ thing before. Though that being said, it had typical Jamie Kennedy humor with him break dancing. It may just be the suburban geeky white kid in me, but seeing a 30 year old break dancing cracks me up.
The supporting cast was good, a lot of familiar faces. I feel if it wasn’t for them, I’d have given this a lower rating since I’ve already seen Kennedy pull this act before. A few times actually. If you’re looking for something better with the same disturbing character, go watch Malibu’s Most Wanted instead.
Final: 5/10 Watch if it’s on TV or rent it when it moves to the cheap bin.