Kamisha

Well this can be answered by biology. Sentient life has only been in MD for six years now. Trees started out as simple twigs that had photosynthetic abilities as the trees evolved they become leaves in order to capture more sunlight. This was during the time of CO2 fertilization when the planet was full of CO2 thus warmer so there was no need for trees that had needles. Since MD is still warm and the large amount of sunlight there is no need for trees to evolve to such a point that they can continuously preform photosynthesis in the cold months since the time that they can use in order to produce enough energy for them selves is endless almost because night only comes in MD several times a year. Thus growing needles would actually be naturally not an advantage as they can not capture as much sunlight. It is due to this disadvantage that there are not a large supply of pine trees in our society as they would not be able to produce as much energy as others causing them to produce seeds less often as it takes a large amount of energy to reproduce. This theory suggests small colonies of pine trees throughout MD closely packed in the forests of lore root and other locations in order to allow these small colonies to be close enough to each other to breed. The time of pollination of the pine trees must be different from that of the other trees in order to allow them to survive separately or else evolution would select for larger leaves making the pine tree slowly phase out unless that has already happened.

[quote name='Yoshi' timestamp='1296686431' post='78362'] Will the live voice chat be recorded and shown, or recorded and then transcribed? Or transcribed as we go along? [/quote] Recorded with permission transcribed otherwise. The recordings can not be shared with any public source according to the ethics committees rules and regulations in order to keep the standereds of anonymity in tact. I actually have to destroy all the raw information after the completion of my paper which you can see in my third update which sports the document template. I have two more sections to complete then I will be sending them out. You will likely see them in your in boxes Friday this week.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ7F8i_haok&feature=player_embedded[/media]

[quote name='Sharazhad' timestamp='1296586870' post='78334'] [color="#2e8b57"][i]Hi, Please Clarify something for me. What you need is our email addresses, and then you will email us the forms which we then sign and hand back to you and then you will give as a questionaire of sorts to fill and then send back to you? Have you emailed the forms yet?[/i][/color] [/quote] Ok this is basically the game plan. First of all I have to get the form out to you that's the first thing which has not happened yet as I have to wright it up still. The basic format can be found in the third edit. Also recently I have been informed that I don't need a signature and all I need is just a reply email with the page included that I sent with a typed RL name as long as it is date stamped as to when you sent it Which means wright the date beside your name. On receiving I am allowed to interview you officially after I receive my proposal back from the senate or unofficially if it is still in the senates waiting approval pile. (since this is a minimum risk assignment it shouldn't be rejected but in rare cases they are) The interview method is your choice between live voice chat wrighten chat or survey depending on which you would prefer and what is your best convenience. Though I prefer voice or wrighten chat because it allows me to make questions on the fly depending on previous responses I understand some people may not be comfortable with that as well as unable so I keep the options open.

I cant help but think that the first post is an attack against me personally but since I cant confirm that I wont dwell on it. However if you are changing answers in order to hide the true result it isn't science. You would be Disney if you did that (lemmings jumping off cliffs is false so they just through them off in a bag). You hypothesis the final answer in order to know where to start looking that's why the first thought is to produce a reason for studying such which science fields call a Purpose. I will admit thought that I am a science major forest ecology to be specific and you do need to take chem in order to take any other science major. So technically I do have a little back ground knowledge on quantum mechanics which I will tell you is a theory. Which brings me to the next point that we call all our findings theories because a true scientist never has a sure thing. In fact gravity although it is a law could still be reversed if there is powerful evidence against it (not very likely. As for everything being a science I actually partially believe with that because science simply is the study of something. Since everything can be studied everything can be science its simply looking at it from a different angle.

Ok with much deliberation all I need is a email with a date stamp instead of something hand written. Oh yes and continue I find this always very entertaining when a topic goes off topic. Edit: Just found the split .

[quote name='Burns' timestamp='1296200044' post='78127'] Questions: I'm well over 18, does your uni still need the signatures of my parents? Because i can definitely tell that they won't sign a form to give out any information at all to a university half the world away. That probably cooperates with USA. We don't like you North Americans. At all. <- Note, they actually are that paranoid. Other than that, what's the procedure to 'sign'? Put the original in an envelope and send it over, hoping it reaches you before next christmas? Sign and scan? Or just say that you read it and agree? No clue what's required for that study... Also, on another note, you folks are paranoid. We do such studies on university twice a month, and never need to sign any forms. [/quote] If your over 18 I don't need a parents signature as its only for minors. Also yes we are paranoid as north Americans (Canadian). The policy for webenographys was what they don't know dosent hurt them until just about one or two years ago after a bit of controversy was encountered. As for the signing of the sheet currently I am thinking print and scan though I am trying to argue another method without any headway for those who cant. If you agree I look forward to listening to what you have to say. [quote name='xrieg' timestamp='1296204478' post='78131'] Actually it seems to be a sound research practice - scientific ethos is dead and high time to realize that :-P Scientific results to be valid should by possible to verify and reproduce. Otherwise the temptation (especially for students, but many researchers as well) could be too strong - and raw data home production would follow. For any serious paper with non-trivial results first thing one should carefully read are assumptions - and data collection methodology. [/quote] Well the idea of scientific ethos as you describe it is an interesting topic. The upside of scientific ethnography if the person has credibility the research gives definitive stats and although stats can be biased and wrong it is very hard to argue against stats. I could do stats and just skip this entire process and study them exclusively but I am more interested in social structures which is sort of a branch from psychology and sociology. Although this has a better chance of being argued part of research is having a point challenged and by doing so you open up new things you might want to study. Also since there may be more bias I would like to stress that bias isn't necessarily a well used word. Bias is often mistakenly used to explain experience.

Important updates: Note update 3 and 2. They are very important.

usually what company's or people do when there just isn't enough equipment or something else interfering is make something every second month or week y ect. I am unsure of what is needed missing and ect. so I'm not going to say to do this. Though I am suggesting if required as a necessary step it may be something to consider. Story night I think used to be ever second week now its once a month. Sometimes changes are required in order to keep something alive.

last time that happened I had a virus. Couldn't connect to the internet but could still use basic chat lines. Had to rebuild my computer from scratch. It could also be the browser for internet explorer. You could try reset the defaults. Grido if you could pass this on it might be helpful.

Ive added an update to my original post. Please respond if you have any problems questions or problems so I can work you in before February 14th.

for sure

not that im aware of at least.

great to hear. I am going to try to meet with my professor tomorrow so to everybody participating or planning to participate I will likely be updating this sometime after 4 central time. If possible ill see if I can coax a copy of document out of here so I can give you some additional info on what you are getting yourself into.

I love the response this is having. when I posted last night I was sort of worried that this wouldn't take off like it did. I will make sure to talk to as many of you as I can in the following months. [quote name='apophys' timestamp='1294914087' post='77356'] I have a question: will you need my real name, or are you taking anonymous data? Or could I be identified as my username alone? [/quote] apophys for my report to the university I will have to use your real name although in the case of the net report I submit this is something you can ask to leave out. [quote name='Chewett'] Will you also be presenting some ideas you have gleaned once the project is over? [/quote] I in fact will be doing that during the project and I will present them after in the project. You see the idea of this is to take what you guys see then compare it to what actually happens. The person on the inside will see the importance behind some ritual that's part of my job and why I am supposed to be on the inside. I am also however supposed to be an observer looking in or outside because I will be able to see something that people overlook as not important or don't see happening because they have desensitized to it. Thats one of the reasons i will be in game not attacking but just silently observing in the background. Thats also why I have started browsing the forum topics because those or uncensored opinions and answered questions from the past.

As most of us know MD has been around for a few years and so have I. Though now entering my third year of university I have entered an ethnography course. The project layout requires a ethnic group to be researched looked at analyzed and reported on. After talking to Mur I have got his approval in order to start my project here. OK here is a solid break down of what I need from everybody here. This is in essence a sign up sheet. In order to actually get behind MD and get beyond the character and into the actual people in MD I need quite simply interviews and ask people questions. I promise that if you don't want to answer any questions we can come back to it later or just skip out completely. Your volunteering so it’s at your convince. I also may need a signed sheet from you saying that its OK to share this information but I am trying to work around it to get something less difficult to send such as an email but I am going to have to ask my prof about what is acceptable. I'll update you as soon as I know. I would also like some particular people to come forward such a Chewy, DST, Metal Bunny, Burns and anybody else who believe they have a highly influential role to play. As well as some minor characters as I would like to always have a newbie’s prospective. I prefer live interview because it’s more natural and people seem more willing to reveal things because it feels less rushed and let’s face it less boring then just reading and answering. I use Google Chat, Yahoo, MSN, Skype, Xfire and even by phone if it’s in Canada or the US. If you agree to be interviewed we will talk more about this. As for ground rules for accepting they are as follows. First off and most importantly no alts getting involved. I may ask about alts but I don't want people to pretend to be more than one person. You can talk about your alts but submitting them to an interview please don't do. This brings us to our next point. I cant stress this enough; no false data please. This is submitted to the university this is looked at by prying eyes of professionals and this is usually a yearlong thing but since it’s a short class I only have 4 months so i don't have enough time to find out when you’re lying. Obviously I would be missing a few but there rather intuitive. As for the finished project I will be submitting it here it’s one of the requirements of the course. It’s only ethical if those involved can read what I said about them. This will be more or less what they say about them selves. But obviously I will respect privacy so if you want anything blacked out I can do that. Though the copy submitted to the University of Winnipeg has to involve all the raw data so that will be the only copy involving everything. So that's everything I know up to this point. As I learn more I will update this topic bump it and ect. I would like to have at least some people volunteered by Monday for I know what’s going on and whether or not I have to move onto another group which I would really HATE having to do. You may learn something about other people maybe even about yourself. You’re free to email me. Ask questions. Do that all important stuff. If you come across things that maybe road blocks or things that make you uncomfortable we will talk and see if we can negotiate some sort of deal. Thank You Good luck And good night. (Its 12:39 am here) Brendon Marek 2011 January.13th P.S. Please post below if you’re interested as it will encourage other people to get involved. P.P.S. If a mod could sticky this for a week or a month or two that would be great. Also if there is a more suitable topic please move it there. Update: Official will only be able to take place after the February break (February 14th). Those who have contacted me personally about conflicting schedules I will interview you before and give you the form to fill out after. The rest of you I would like to give you the form before hand. If anybody has a schedule that does not work please feel free to PM me in the forum or in game. I am rather diligent about checking both and I can usually respond within 24 hours. Update 2: Minors (those below 18) will be required to get a parent or guardians signature. To avoid any future legal issues. If your parents have any issues that they are unsure of they can contact me via email which is shown in my profile or by emailing ethnographybrendon@gmail.com. Update 3: I'm starting to wright my proposal now so i need to look into getting signatures in order to get approval of the committee. since i am just starting the writing process I want to get a feel for who is planning to go through with it. Run the mile as it where. I still have to edit and personalize it for this particular study but this is what you will have to sign. I will send you individual copies via email. For those still interested please send you real name as it is required to be added to your copy. Please be sure to note update 2 and make sure your parents understand. I will need yours and there's in order to continue. The Draft Template: [url="http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/index/cms-filesystem-action?file=pdfs/research/forms/consent-form-checklist-and-template.pdf"]Template[/url] Make sure to see the second page. --- [img]http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs011.snc6/166122_10150121587941563_520141562_7643262_1548486_s.jpg[/img]

[quote name='Muratus del Mur' timestamp='1294092372' post='76721'] its true, but not my fault so to say. If i put an empty canvas and say its a paintung some people will still admire its beauty and find meaning where there is none. I cant say i dislike it, heh, who would... but it makes me curious if i would have posted this, or the poems, as an alt nobody knew its me....i really wonder. As for the current painting, i dont brag about things i am not satisfied with, so it kind of fuels my ego when i see compliments. Im proud of this one however i dont get mad on the bad comments, not at all, its interesting to see any reaction. About the price... no offence but .. lets say i cant find any reason why i would sell this for anything less that 1k, which is outrageous i know. Anyway _not for sale_ . Its weird , i would feel a lot better of doing or giving some art for free than selling it. [/quote] Ive always wondered about this. Using an alt I mean. In the past I considered it as I had a bad rep but just decided to exile my self for a month or two. Mur I do like your painting and since I personally believe that a painting has a different meaning to each person who looks at it I wont decipher what I see. Though the alt thing I would like to see. A simple post from somebody who know-body knows about and see what reaction it gets. It might have already happened im not sure but in either case it would be an interesting physiological experiment.

-have more time. -reduce exp to a point which I can get training again. -finish my excel spread sheet to compare DNA codes (for those who submitted thank you for waiting I haven't forgotten) -find time to wright -Think of a new quest that hasn't been tried before. (or something elaborate that has been tried before and i think i can duplicate (i am thinking of how to code a game called mafia but bringing it from closed eyes and the couch to a cyber world which is followed by prying eyes is sometimes hard.)) That is all I can think of at the moment.

Paint isn't a good program to use because the image will always turn out grainy and thus not suitable. Paints brushes act by coloring several pixels at once which looks unnatural so it is unlikely it will be accepted.

Perhaps instead of a stated list as was suggested before I think what is suggested prior there should be instead some other symbol when seen in an area. Though this does sometimes include people asking questions about such as when I was new I wondered why people had Astrix in there names. Though something that perhaps resembled a alliance symbol instead of the dot system may be beneficial as long as it is inconspicuous enough for only people who look for something out of the ordinary. Having this system will allow people to recognize an MP6 quickly but they have to be active in order to recruit people.

If I remember correctly they used too charge but later ap charging was reduced for looking at things as people started editing items.

As cheweet says it is meant to force you to to balance. However if it works or not is debatable. yes it eventually will force you to attack stronger players. Though other matters make it almost obsolete as a viable system. Just dont drop below zero honor and you will do fine.

I guess the bottom line like most of us and myself previously felt is that the rebel system was made to take the human element out. The actual use of the rebel system should be put to rest as to allow the human element to assess better than just walking through necro and then make a decision depending on what facts have taken place in the time being.

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