On this episode of Spark:
- Disney’s Virtual Magic Kingdom closes its doors
- Cassie’s LetsSaveVMK videos on YouTube
- Aengus’s TodayInVMK.com
- Beth Coleman on participation, ownership and identity in online virtual worlds
- Spark listeners share their “off the grid” stories
- John Sanderson tries to keep large trucks from getting stuck in Wedmore, England (full interview)
- Michael Feir gives Nora a tour of the internet from the perspective of a blind person
This episode features Creative Commons music and sound effects:
- “Wadidyusay?” by Zap Mama
- “airtone/koto2/”>koto2″ and “airtone/ephem/”>ephemeralspaces” by airtone
- “Downtempo Groove” by Neurowaxx
- “central parking lot for sale piano” by shimoda
- “Both Sides” by Jerry_Rosier
- Samples from New Dimensions in Sound (1957)
- “Ungaresca” by La Primavera
- “Relaxation Spa Treatment” by Dan the Automator
Play audio:
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Original photo from Michael Tutton.
Michael Feir’s interview brought back a few fond memories for me. I’m a fully sighted programmer (now specialized in video game development), but my first major programming job was writing speech synthesizer drivers for the linux kernel, for the University of Western Ontario. We released it to the blind community in 1998, and as far as I know, it’s still in use today: http://www.linux-speakup.org/
I worked with a completely blind sysadmin, who was disenchanted with the current blind user offerings for linux. I feel that that experience really helped me build as a programmer, and really drove home the concept that, ultimately, software is only as good as what is conveyed to the user.
Sometimes, I miss altruistic development. Working for the entertainment industry is fun, sure, but actually having the feeling that I was contributing to a community (in need) is so much more satisfying.
Your Wedmore piece brought back fond memories.
From 1996-2002, I lived in Cheddar Somerset, a few miles away from Wedmore. It is a charming little English village, but traffic on the tiny narrow roads is diabolical.
The gentleman you interviewed blames GPS and that is part of the problem, but Wedmore suffers the fate of so many quaint English villages. It was designed before the motorcar. Now it is suffocating in traffic gridlocks and fumes from too many cars.
Tweaking GPS will reduce the worst of it, but it won’t solve the growing traffic problems of Wedmore or any other small English village.
PS, I was delighted to see my shot of the spider web on your blog.
@Gifted Typist,
I was once in a tiny rented car in an old town in Spain. The roads kept getting narrower and narrower with no opportunity for turning around. I was sure we were just going to get stuck between the narrowing walls!
A pleasure to use your lovely photo!
To many VMK is just a silly game, but for many of us its a safe haven from reality. Many of us are forced to grow up too fast, and in VMK we can be who we really are. In VMK, we’ve formed many friendships, and have made it through all the hard times, but we’ll have no where to go after VMK closes. Thank you.
Interesting to hear the VMK Closing issue discussed, especially today.
However, I thought it was funny that you never talked to anyone from the oldest, largest VMK fansite ( http://www.vmkforums.com }, or mentioned the protest that happened this morning at DisneyLand, organized at http://www.vmkkidsunite.com/ .
Evil Kid Bugs
Evil Kid Bugs, VMKFansite is Not the Largest.
Off that point.
I have talked to many my friends and they find vmk a place where they can escape from there real life. And They Can go into our “Virtual” reality. They can talk to there not virtual, but real friends like me and them.
to me VMK was the only site that i felt safe on it was a way to met new friends like: all the Mickey Dancers
they where the best and now im going to lose them.
the best time i ever had with them was dreams moon, where we sat in front of the computer waiting for the host to come in we spent ALL day on VMK waiting, after words we had to go and see the mind docter.
this is from a girl in NZ that how far VMK has reach ppl.
thanks though about talking about
Hey,
Enjoyed the interview with Beth Coleman about online communities and what responsibilities a business might have to those who contribute content.
It made me think about a recent article in the New Yorker, in which Jonah Perretti (of BuzzFeed, a trend-spotting site) referred to website strategies as the “mullet strategy”: business up front, party in the back. As he put it, “the best way for web companies to increase traffic is to let users have control, but the best way to sell advertising is a slick, pretty front page.”
Hmm. And I thought the mullet was history!
@ Barbara,
Mullet strategy! What a great term. That’s an interesting notion, the split between advertising and traffic, since it sounds as thought the bias of advertisers is getting in the way of their real goal…reaching eyeballs.