Staff members from left to right: NeoBlade, TaroTard & Chiisuki

TaroTard: When you are speaking to someone on MSN how do you know the person you’re speaking to is really your friend?

And when I say really your friend, I am not talking about everything you hear on the news these days, because yes that is going on all the time and it’s disgusting. I am talking to a topic closer to home.

How do you know that this person you have never met before but you have been online friends with for several months/ years is really real?

It’s so easy for somone to go online and create a completely new personality an online personality, it happens all the time these days.
Unfortunately in the past I have learned this lesson the hard way, I was friends with a girl for just over a year and went to stay with her in Canada for 2 weeks, but when I got there she wasn’t that nice to me at all really, we had days where we were friends like we were online but at other times she just ignored me and was even quite spiteful and rude to me, I feel.

For some reason I have really been thinking about this a lot recently and so decided to start a discussion to get other opinions.
When you are speaking to someone on MSN it’s not always truthul. When you’re on the phone the person can hear your voice and sense your honesty, that plus you are put on the spot for an answer you have to give it up right away. On MSN/AIM/ICQ (etc.) however you can take your time and edit your answer as you see fit. You can make it sound how you want to sound all honesty disappears. Some people don’t give an answer to a question, they create one.

In real life you might be shy and confident but online you may come across as outgoing and flirty. Or it could work the other way in real life you might be a bit of a perv and a bit big headed but online you come across as modest and friendly.
The issue is you can grow to trust someone on MSN but in the end if you have not met the person in real life you know pretty much nothing about the person and you may find your trust is too easily given…

So my question is, do you think this kind of behaviour is acceptable? Is it ok to create an online personality (and in effect lie to those you call friends)? Is there a way you can know if someone is being honest on MSN/AIM/ICQ etc? If so how? Have you been a victim to anything like this in the past? And do you believe there is anyway in which this kind of behaviour can be prevented?

Chiisuki:
This one particularly hits close to home with me due to several instances, a lot I would rather forget. I dislike how people use the internet to create the person they always wanted to be rather than just be themselves. I often compare the internet to alcohol as in a lot of circumstances it allows you to disregard inhibitions. Your judgement is often clouded and I believe because you are in a safe environment i.e. your own home as opposed to a club etc you open up more freely and often disclose information you wouldn’t dream of telling your family or even partner and yet this stranger online knows all your deepest darkest secrets.

The internet can be a great tool for those who are shyer, from a small town or even live an alternative lifestyle to meet people who are like minded. The problem being the person you are speaking to isn’t often 100% honest, I often hear people claiming I have this or I have that etc. Point is why do people feel the need to boast online and pretend to be someone they aren’t? You often never end up meeting the people you speak to so what is the point when in reality. I guess from what I have witnessed in the past people do it to boost their own ego’s, those who lack confidence in the ‘real world’ can be the confident person they always dreamed of within this second life.

If you consider it discovering the internet is like being ‘born again’ to many people, they can have a blank canvas to work with where no one knows what they have done in reality, no one knows you were the loser at school or that you work a boring mundane job, on the internet in a sense you can become anyone you wish to be, much like playing fancy dress or acting you can create an entirely new personality and for many this is one of the very attractive feature’s of the internet. Just look at the number of people who play Second Life, WoW and many other MMORPG’s where you can even create your own avatar which if you play it for long enough some people can even forget who they really are, their alternative persona becoming the more dominant one.

Sadly I can not see how this can be prevented as until every person is truly happy within themselves there will always be internet ‘fakes’, people who have to be someone else just to feel better about themselves. You often find a lot of people who by nature are compulsive liars use the internet to feed their need. Some people are just incapable of telling the truth and the internet makes this easy. Others just want to get close to people they never could in reality, so they lie about who they are. What is sad is these people don’t realise that it is the illusion others like not themselves. I do find it hard to understand anyone who could be happy with themselves that they need to lie to get people to like them.

The only way I have found to work out who is telling the truth and who is lying is to copy and save conversations with people, if they contradict themselves or if just plain alarm bells ring in your head walk away. You lose nothing if you lose an internet person, Also it is a good idea until you feel truly comfortable with that person to keep ‘reality’ and the internet separate. You often find people become immersed with their internet friends and forget those they have in reality due to them being less fun. Of course this isn’t entirely true but I think the thrill of speaking to someone different brings out most people’s adventurous nature. Fantasy isn’t always better than reality even if to some people it may seem so because at the end of the day when you lie in your bed you are back in the ‘real world’, you are the same person who is shy or was picked on, or never achieved what they believed they should have not the fantasy you have created you don‘t change just because of something you typed online.

TaroTard: I know it is both easier to lie and be honest on MSN, I think it’s like you say because one you’re in your house and feel completely safe and comfortable (never really thought about it but it’s so true) and they lie because it’s easy to and it doesn’t always feel like you’re lying.
I think this is why you have to be weary. It’s a good idea saving convos though, would be interesting to compare, to be honest though these days I don’t really talk to a lot of people that I have never met, since my learning experience actually ^^; wonder if it had a subconscious affect on me haha.

I have noticed though that I have a couple of real life friends that talk completely different online and it’s what brought this topic to the front of my mind really. I always want to ask ‘why are you being like that?’ I’d much prefer them to be themselves than put up a front it seems really silly and sometimes it annoys me a little because I know it isn’t them. These aren’t particularly close friends and I think their online personalities hinder that because they then come across as dishonest to me.

I do not understand myself why people have to lie though. In the end it’s not only doing the other person a diservice but themselves too. I always feel incredibly guilty if I lie about myself online, I felt bad having a male avatar as a mule on one site once, because I’m not male I actually stated in the signature for that particular avatar that I was actually a girl in real life haha ^^;

The second life thing has caught my attention I remember my Mom mentioned a while back that it was on TV. It seems a biy … wow! to me… it’s really a second life, I guess where you can be who you want to be.
Personally even though I’m not always happy with myself I would much prefer to be myself than anyone or anything else, so I will always be honest on these kind of sites.

Obviously I think it’s completely wrong and some people take it way too far, it can be quite scary when you think about it…

NeoBlade: It does raise a lot of questions and something I wanted to explore more about, more specifically in Online Safety however this is a very good start. Many people though sadly do lie out of their own teeth online to get attention to themselves most likely because in reality they could never command it for whatever reason. I’m pretty sure that if they were as open or as friendly in person then they would be able to make new friends or acquaintances at least without too much trouble. However the temptation of being ‘larger than life’ online is often too much to resist.

There are many people in real life that are really fantastic to speak to but online they feel like a totally different person. This is not because their personality as such has drastically changed. It is just I think we take it for granted that everyone uses MSN or other Instant Messaging systems all the time and expect the same level of transparency online as they do offline. Not everyone are able to do so really however the main issue is the reverse… I.E The people you talk to on MSN are really lively, bubbly and friendly yet in person they are not and quite the opposite as TaroTard pointed out earlier in her post. I find these characters more suspectable really since if they make the effort to converse online and you know they have the ability to hold a conversation, then why not at least show a glimpse of that when you meet up? You do have to take account of how shy a person might be as well, but then if they are comfortable enough to speak to you beforehand and know it is safe to (as in you also give the same amount of effort back to the conversation) then they should feel comfortable enough.

Points made earlier about having a Second Life/Persona online often happens and there is nothing wrong for example in questioning certain things to find out the truth. There has been times where for example asking for certain bits of information there was a break in conversation flow, allowing them to think of something up or stalling the matter. There have been other cases as well of people being open to editing and creating an online persona just to make them look better. As mentioned before it is a lot easier to do online than in real life since most of us can read body language and tone of voice to detect lies. Online however you can only see text and that’s it. There is no face to the text, no voice, no body language. The safety net of being in the comfort of your own place, miles away from the person you are talking to also gives you that physical presence of mind as there is a smaller chance of being caught out.

Of course everything is context sensitive so you cannot use it as a cast iron rule that if people go quiet they are trying to fabricate something. If you are friends online and indeed there is a level of trust, most people would go about sending pictures of each other. I’ve had some females send a fake picture which is fair enough - The online space does contain its fair share of dodgy characters much like in real life so there is no harm in safeguarding yourself, as long as you are comfortable with it.

Safety is important, even more so if you actually decide to go and see them in real life after. In which case I would advise on taking a friend along with you and indeed to let someone else know your location and time of visit. We often hear such stores on the internet and they are not totally unfounded so it is always bes to er on the safe side, more so if you are female.

With Second Life/World of Warcraft I have known many people to be addicted to it and indeed I’ve lost friends over it! They become so compulsive towards the game that they often forget that there is a world out there that can be explored, people to meet etc. I know I have become addicted to the online world also however I do like my breaks away from it as you get to see the larger picture rather than to be confined behind a desk on a computer.

Looking at this from a different angle though, for those who are shy but are honest online it does help to build confidence within yourself. Going back to a point made by Chiisuki though it is true how it is just as easy to give away personal information as it is to lie. There are some that are a bit too forthright with information that in normal circumstances would not be released. Things like numbers, addresses, photos and specific information… All of which leads to Social Engineering but we’ll cover that another time!

TaroTard: The internet is a lot colder, I’ve said this before when I am talking to a friend online and I am down it helps, but nowhere near as much as it would if I actually spoke to the person on the phone or face to face.

It lacks that comforting and supportive edge that you get actually speaking to a person. Hence when I am feeling really down, to be honest I don’t usually want to be on the net, I start to feel alone and crave actually talking to somone.
Also I find sometimes that I hide my emotions more online and when I say that, Anger and sadness being the ones I mean. If I’m happy you don’t need to hide it really do you? But it’s easier to because the person can’t hear your voice, if they could they would KNOW you are not happy. But yeah I tend to take a breath leave it and move on and the other person is none the wiser. Mind you recently I’ve been better with that

It’s on TV a lot recently about how just leaving a child in front of a computer all the time is causing all kinds of social problems in later life and I can totally understand where that is coming from.
Being online you can’t show real emotion and you’re not really interacting with a person, the only thing there is the speech. If you know a person then it’s better because obviously you know how the person reacts in reality and can imagine it. But if you are talking to a person you have never met before. It is impossible to imagine them and it is near impossible to honestly understand them, because as has been mentioned above by everyone it is very easy to be someone completely different to yourself online… meep!

Staff members from left to right: NeoBlade, TaroTard, Chiisuki and Ovii-sama

We’ve had this feature bubbling along for some time where eMagi staff members gather together and discuss topics to gather opinions and views regarding the world we’re in, anime, manga, videogames and much more.

Today we will roll out the first of many features of which I hope to run on a monthly basis as we discuss and debate often on our eMagi forum about topics. This debate though concerns the long debate about anime fansubs and its effects on the industry.

NeoBlade: Fansubbing is nothing new… It is a process of translating something into one’s native language so more people can appreciate the media more. Back in the day, animé would be fansubbed and then put onto VHS for distribution which is expensive and time consuming. With the advent of digital distribution though almost anyone, anywhere in the world can obtain such files with a few clicks of the mouse. With a much lower barrier to get such files and with trends moving into where media is on demand whenever the consumer wants it, do you believe there is still a place for fansubs to exist? Don’t forget that fansubs are illegal for distribution as well but because they are so widespread, that message gets lost. For many people, they would not pay for a series when they can get the same quality in terms of video and audio for free.

What do you believe can be done to help reverse this trend while still making sure that artists and companies can still create animé that we all know and love?

TaroTard: Ok this is something that I think about quite often…
Fansubbing is definitely/ has definitely had a negative affect on the anime industry in America/Europe unfortunately. Because fansubs are readily available it is exactly like you said more often than not people don’t bother to buy the animes they want to watch, they download them instead. Because it is so easy to do and so easily available and everywhere I think people often forget it is illegal.

In the end the reason fansubs have a place to exist at the moment is people are impatient and want to see their favourite shows as soon as they’re available and because fansubs are pretty much ready to download as soon as the eps are released in Japan these days, people are going to continue to do it.

As for reversing… it will/ would be a difficult task! There would have to be a crack down on anime download sites for a start. In the end how effective would that be? It would help but we already know that the music industry suffers greatly because of it and this is an industry that is much more main stream than anime.
Publicity - I know that articles on this topic have been posted already on the net warning people of what will happen if it continues, whilst this has a positive affect on some anime fans, there are still others who will completely ignore this.
Faster release of animes - DVD wise this is not realistic (though I am sure many would agree it would be nice =D) however they could take a leaf from the music industry’s book and start making animes readily available to download with subs officially for a fee (to go to the producers/ creators/ whoever gets the money from these shows). This way animes could be available as fast as fansubs are now and it would be official and legal.

That’s just my 5 cents, maybe my ideas are too naive/ optimistic, perhaps when I have my degree in business my 5 cents will be worth more

Chiisuki: Personally I am for fansubing, mainly due to being a fan of certain anime genre’s that are often not licensed commercially for western distribution. I know the industry like any other is primarily run on money and unless a title is deemed marketable then a license will not be purchased as there is too much of a possibility of money loss etc. Unlike with commercial companies fan subbers are there for fans, they work not for money but for the benefit of other fans and they take what they enjoy (i.e. anime or manga) and make it accessible to all. I agree that the anime industry in the western world is losing profit due to this but at the end of the day the fan subbers are gaining nothing in return for their efforts and yet they work a lot harder and faster it seems than actual industry insiders. The whole debate to me is more passion vs. greed.

If the anime industry wished for people to stop using fan subbers for one they need to bring the prices of their DVD’s down as it is extortionate especially in the UK where pricing close to £20 per 4 episodes is not uncommon. I am aware the price of DVD’s sold here is due to the cost of purchasing title licenses from Japan but I can’t see how they would be that costly. The anime industry is a tiny part of the DVD industry as a whole and often I see fans being ripped off left right and centre by these large companies due to the lack of suppliers the prices are kept high and there is no competition or at least it seems that way to keep the prices down.

If the industry wants to please fans and stop fansubbing they need to start thinking more like an actual anime fan, after all what would make people buy DVD’s of their favourite shows if they already have a fansub? Personally I believe companies have the right idea when they bring out collectors boxes which include Limited edition items that can’t be found elsewhere. Anime fans as a whole love collecting and these editions make people want to shell out the extra cash to own the genuine article. Anime companies need to approach the market as a collectors market and make it so people have to buy their products.

The companies could also reduce the wait by producing an iTunes style release system per episode (I am aware a few companies are currently trailing this) where a small amount is paid per episode download which are in fact just subbed rather than dubbed, this could also be used as a way to tide fans over until actual DVD release dates, which currently from announcement of licensing take months. I know this is due to arranging dubbing etc (which many fans aren’t bothered about anyway) but it would be more efficient if the companies released two titles one which is just subbed and a second released later with a dubbed track if the title is deemed successful.

TaroTard: Fansubbers are indeed there to help the fans as there IS a lot of anime that they have never released. To be honest a lot of the stuff I want to see is not released as it is Shojo (think it’s getting better now though, in America at least) and there is not as big a market for at it as the shonen stuff eg. Naruto, Bleach (etc.) which are good animes btw… well I think

But without money these animes cannot be made and yes you’re right I think they are definitely way too greedy with what they ask for. I haven’t brought any new anime in a longtime and a big part of it is because I cannot afford it! At 20 quid a DVD you’re looking at a lot of cash for an entire series.
Hence why I also thought the download option was a good idea. They have TV series readily available on itunes for just over a pound an episode, if they did this for anime I would be up for purchasing a lot more as I am sure many others would. Not only is it cheaper but it is a lot easier too.
Not sure how much they need to make a profit on these shows to be fair, but I’m sure if big budget shows can live on it anime can too.

Oh and I agree with the limited edition boxset thing, I thought the Haruhi limited edition sets were amazing <3 Haven’t got my hands on them though >< would like to at some point! (I have the normal DVDs as it is one of my fave shows)

Ovii-sama: Fansubbing…I don’t really know what to say on the subject. Seeing as I don’t watch fansubs that much.
I used to watch Bleach, D.Gray-Man and Claymore fansubs. But since then I’ve stopped.

All I can say is, I honestly think it should stop somehow. As convenient as it is to be able to watch our favourite shows before they come out. It IS going to ultimately do nothing but destroy the industry. It’s the same reason that I refrain from downloading music nowadays unless I promise myself I will buy it sometime.

It is uneven ground, though. As some anime is never released to us. In that case, I agree with fansubbing: Otherwise, we’re missing out.

So…I’m kinda stuck in the middle to tell the truth. :/

NeoBlade: Some good opinions there with many valid points. We shall continue this though in Part Two as we evolve the topic further discussing Fansubs and the translation methods used as as a certain Professional Translator has recently been outspoken about this…

Japan has appointed Doraemon as it’s first ever Anime diplomat, it is hoped that by acting as a charm ambassador he will promote Japanese culture and ‘make friends by travelling the world’. As Japan’s foreign minister Masahiko Komura looked on Doraemon (or more precisely someone in a character costume) said,

“Through my work, I will do my best to tell people in foreign countries about what Japanese think, how Japanese live and what kind of future the Japanese hope to make,”

Only in Japan would an anime blue and white robo-cat become a diplomat, I eagerly await his official debut as Ambassador and good luck to Doraemon, I believe he has a good message.

Or Break(s) the Ice to be more exact, Britney Spears has released a new Anime style music video for her song “Break the Ice”. The Animation production was done jointly by Korean company Motif RMC and Los Angeles based HSI Productions, with the post production being carried out by 310 studios and the animation itself created by Korean Studio Animal. What will be interesting now is what impact this video actually has on the western world when it comes to anime. I believe most people are aware this video is a clever PR stunt by JIVE due to Britney being in no current condition to star in the video herself. I’m unsure if it is just me but the video appears to draw heavily on Anime classics such as GitS and I am also reminded of the animated sequences used in Kill Bill.

Whatever the impact on the anime industry or indeed the reception by anime fans, I’m sure Britney will end up with a hit on her hands and a very interesting video to add to her repertoire. Only time will tell if other bands will choose to follow suit and embrace anime yet again as a clever marketing ploy, one wonders if this will start a resurgence of anime influenced music videos. Either way the video is an interesting watch.

I have decided last week that it was time to move one from Windows XP + SP2 to the new Windows Vista Ultimate build now that I knew the programs I often used don’t have as many issues. Originally when trying out Vista Ultimate, there were many programs that I used that were not 100% compatible - MSN refused to connect, FireFox crashed and would never load up (even more so when set to the default browser), Sound drivers were damaged and I couldn’t find compatible local server software.

Now though all that has changed. Firefox has been updated rapidly, MSN is now behaving, the sound Driver in Vista is actually pretty sweet and all the other smaller programs I need to work just do. The time to make the jump much like from Windows 2000 to XP needs to be made. Will things go smoothly and will Vista perform?
(Read more…)

No, this isn’t an image of a computer virus…

Viruses… Created by programmers who wish to exploit vulnerabilities within any given operating system simply because they can, or because they wish to cause damage. Whatever your view of Viruses, Spyware and Malware they exist to annoy the end user and businesses of which can cause fatal damage to one’s system.

So what exactly is a Virus?

Abbreviating from our nice friend Wikipedia the term was taken from Biology due to the similar nature of how it would manifest itself - Reproducing by making, possibly modified, copies of itself in the computer’s memory, storage, or over a network.

Bottom line being that it is a computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer without permission or knowledge of the user at all. Also due to the way viruses spread it can infect others by filesharing, emails and simple use of the internet infecting hundreds, thousands or even millions at a time.

What is Spyware, Adware and Malware?

Spyware is basically a program that collects personal information about users without their informed consent. This can be done in the form of keyloggers (recording every key you press on the keyboard) to things like recording your browsing habits using your History folder on your browser and much more. Not a nice thing I’m sure you’ll agree, especially if they log sensitive data such as passwords.

Malware (malicious software) is a bit more difficult to define because it shares many similarities to a Virus - To cause damage and harm once inftected.

Adware or advertising-supported software is any software package which automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertising material to a computer after the software is installed on it or while the application is being used.

What can be done to protect against Viruses, Malware and Spyware?

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Okay, basically this article is something of a rant about my general apathy towards the ‘me-too!’ mentality of many developers and the damage it’s doing not only to their own IP, but the industry as a whole. My example in this case is going to be… Driver.

Yes, I know, Driver is almost as infamous as ‘Army Men’ these days, almost a euphemism for bad gaming. However, original Driver was sublime. It was fun, fresh and original. Yes, it was riddled with bugs and glitches - you could get stuck ‘inside’ buildings and so on and the last level was stupidly difficult. But there really was no other alternative.

In fact, to be honest I still play it now and it’s still great fun! So… What happened?

(Read more…)

Okay, basically this article is something of a rant about my general apathy towards the ‘me-too!’ mentality of many developers and the damage it’s doing not only to their own IP, but the industry as a whole. My example in this case is going to be… Driver.

Yes, I know, Driver is almost as infamous as ‘Army Men’ these days, almost a euphemism for bad gaming. However, original Driver was sublime. It was fun, fresh and original. Yes, it was riddled with bugs and glitches - you could get stuck ‘inside’ buildings and so on and the last level was stupidly difficult. But there really was no other alternative.

In fact, to be honest I still play it now and it’s still great fun! So… What happened?

(Read more…)