The life practice of windows is that of a decentered self that exists in many worlds, that plays many roles at the same time. The self is no longer simply playing different roles in different settings at different times. The life practice of windows is that of a decentered self that exists in many worlds, that plays many roles at the same time. MUD players are MUD authors, the creators as well as consumers of media content. In this, participating in a MUD has much in common with scriptwriting, performance art, street theatre, improvisational theatre, or even commedia dell arte.
MUDs imply difference, multiplicity, heterogeneity, and fragmentation.
But this contradiction increasingly defines the conditions of our lives beyond the virtual world. This Advanced Communication Technologies Laboratory has close ties with the McLuhan Programme in Culture and Technology at the University of Toronto, both of which study virtual systems, including interfaces, interaction, agency, and culture. Stone's work and ideas are available through her homepage . Her recent book The War of Desire and Technology at the Close of the Mechanical Age is a fascinating series of stories which reflect on the way people perform identities on-line. Throughout, Stone wrestles with the question of how best to convey a complex description of a culture whose chief activity is complex description.