“What the F$%k is an AVATAR?“, I thought to myself just a little over a year ago. My nine-year-old nephew told me that he’d bet $5 that his avatar online was cooler than mine. Considering mine would have been a lost girl drawing a….total blank….he was probably right.

Having felt embarrassingly ignorant to this concept once myself, I’m gonna score some karma points by giving you the rundown of what exactly all these nine-year-olds are talking about.

Avatar, in Hindu philosophy, actually means a bodily manifestation. The concept isn’t so glamorous when applied to the internet and computing, though. While an avatar is still a bodily manifestation of some sort when on the internet, it’s more like a cartoon character that you pick to represent yourself rather than a higher being.

The whole craze actually started in 1985 with a computer game called Ultima. The “avatar” was the visual on-screen persona of the player. Nowadays, everyone from elementary school kids to grandparents looking to find friends online have become familiar with this concept. Read More »

This morning while slightly (and by slightly I mean, shoot-me-in-the-face) bored at work, I illegally signed into my AIM.

(Tip to all you working ladies out there: www.meebo.com is a wonderful site where you can log onto AIM and your bosses will never know. Mwahahaha)

Anyhoo, an equally sly and bored friend of mine was clearly also looking for some entertainment so we started chatting.

And at 10:14 AM on October 17, 2007 I had my first New Year’s 2008 query.

Yes, I think this is my new record. Usually New Year’s discussions don’t start until at least after Halloween, but post-college/big city life calls for a whole new set of rules. Read More »

Just last week I was praising the genius who invented online dating. But, like most things (and people) I interact with in this world, I have a few issues with the online quest for love. What can I say? One of my favorite hobbies is finding fault in everything around me.

Don’t get me wrong; I love online dating. I love searching for love in my underwear. I love using emoticons to convey my feelings. And I love avoiding the smoky bars and the usually-shady characters that flock to them. But, there are a few glaring errors present in the world of online dating that I can do without.

Spelling/Grammar Issues: Maybe it’s just me, but nothing pisses me off more than someone who doesn’t know the difference between your/you’re and their/there/they’re. Except, maybe, someone who misspells common words (probibly? Freinds?) Read More »

Ah, dorm life. What a beautiful time.

The shower shoes, the sloppy Friday nights, the obnoxious girls down the hall that think it’s cute to blast LFO’s “Summer Girls” for the whole building to hear. It’s such an important era in your four years of fabulous.

So what do you do when you’re stuck with an anal RA whose mistaken his handbook of proper conduct as an FBI badge? Well throw a bangin’ dorm pregame, duh!

There’s definitely certain factors that make for a successful in-dorm pregame, and here we’ve mapped them out for you. No need to thank me, I find it my duty as a wise college sophomore. (Haha)

1. Get off AIM you computer-addicted fool. If they’re not already in your room eager to get down & dirty with a bottle of tequila, they’re not worth your pretty little manicure’s time. Which leads me to #2…

2. Don’t worry so much about plans. Go where the wind blows you. You act like this is not college, where there’s presumably a bumpin’ party just a short stumble away. The best nights are those left unplanned. Don’t fret over busted parties and broken plans. It’s all part of the ride, throw your hands in the air and yell. (Just try hard not to puke.) Read More »

Starting off a “real life” in a new city far from home after recently graduating college in May can be a very scary and lonely experience. Take it from me, I am currently doing it right now.

Having to make adult decisions and worry about things like finding a reasonable apartment to rent or what kind of medical benefits your job will have were possibly the last things on my mind as a carefree college student just four months ago.

And to add more sting to the wound, I have to hear about everyone going back to school.

My younger friends all have away messages up such as “Back at it! Pregaming, then out” or “Fall Semester Kick Off Party.” I sit in my tiny apartment and cringe with jealousy when I read posts like The First Day of School or My Freshman Year: Day One. I lament with my fellow graduates who are working as well and miles away over IM or email.

Somehow, it’s just not the same as stumbling into their rooms at 3 am when we all lived in a sorority house together.

Well, not only does loneliness suck, but it’s bad for your health as well. A recent article I read described how researchers had found that “loneliness may accelerate the rate of physical decline that occurs naturally with age.” Great!

So, not only do I feel old because I am a college graduate, but now, my current state of mind could be aging me even faster…AHHH! Read More »

I am loving Gmail chat, or Gchat as those of us in the know like to call it. And I am so over AOL Instant Messenger.

AIM, with its elaborate sound effects and cutesy but cluttered design, has lost its appeal for me. There was a time when I, like many of my friends, left AIM constantly signed on, just in case some crucial or exciting message might pop up unexpectedly. But over time, the many irritations of AIM began to wear on me. I signed on less and less frequently, and eventually not at all.

Those advertisements at the top of the buddy list window would make loud and abrupt noises out of nowhere, which freaked me out. I’m through spending hours meticulously crafting witty away messages or tweaking my profile, and I’m definitely through reading other people’s away messages and profiles. The internet has come a long way, and there are far better ways to kill time. Like Facebook. Also, in the many long years I’ve been using AIM, I have acquired a lot of “buddies”. A lot of random buddies, many of whom I no longer care to chat with. It’s so awkward when some long lost acquaintance I occasionally partied with during my senior year of high school wants to kill time by IMing me. I have nothing to say, but at the same time, how can I blow someone off when we haven’t spoken in three or four years? Read More »

When we first got a computer—and the internet—my sister and I pitched a fit. At age 8, I was sure that this thing called the “web” my mother was so engrossed with, was a passing fad. My mother has always been technologicaly minded, I mean the woman was getting New Zealand pen pals for her fifth grade class in ‘97. Now she’s assigned homework to 11-year-olds via her webpage and getting her class to create podcasts. Which is why, in this day and age, it is a bit easier for my mom to keep tabs on my whereabouts day in and day out.

I’ll have to admit that I’m horrible about calling home. For the most part, my life is just so damn busy and by the time I think to call, its way past their bed time. Fortunately for my mother (who has just learned to text… she never could get cell phones) she can harass me lovingly in about five different technological forms.

Point in case:

Mom 6/6/07 10:28 am: Hi call me!

Mom 6/6/07 1:33 pm: Please call me and let me know how u r! Read More »

OMG! No U Ddnt!

I’ve never been the biggest fan of text messaging. I still have one of those phones where you have to press a thousand different keys get the letters you want, and since everything is so damn small, squinting is the only way to make sure I’m saying the right things.

Plus, I’ve never understood why someone would text instead of call unless A) they’re somewhere that inhibits phone usage or B) they don’t want to hear the other person’s voice.

These opinions of mine are in the minority, though. I’m well aware of how much this country is in love with text messaging. Just like that crazy AOL Instant Messenger took hold of my generation years ago, text messaging is slowly becoming our primary form of communication as well as a way to make shitloads of cash. Read More »