The Blog Hud lets us send timestamped and location-linked postcard images directly to our blogs, like this one sent last year. "Getting away from it all in Second LIfe" or What Susan does when she morphs into Tynan Clary.
Technology. Amazing!
posted by Tynan Clary using a blogHUD : [blogHUD permalink]
One of the most interesting things about Second Life is that every time I log in I am able to have a different experience.And that's doubly true because my next door neighbor builds . . and I never know what she's going to build.
Where I use Second Life as a way to attend meetings I could not get to otherwise, to interact with a wide variety of people and to just zone out sitting next to a virtual duck pond, my neighbor Teeg creates And does so on a massive scale.
Yesterday I had two meetings both help entirely within Second Life and then I crashed out, which is fairly unusual for me lately with the improvements in my computer and Second Life's servers. When I signed back in later I looked at the plot of land next to mine to find this very tall very blue floral sculptural piece on Teeg's lawn.
It got me thinking of what it would look like when it's completed and the possibilities of what one could do with it in combination with a fountain or subtle lighting or softening landscape.
The charm of sculpture in Second Life is although it is created by manipulating basic geometric shapes (prims which is short for primitive shapes like cubes, cones etc) and visible on your screen, it's also possible to get a 3D view by moving - walking or flying or just moving your camera - around the creation and getting a 360 degree view.
This makes Second Life a wonderful place to experience wonderful artistic creations, from the most primitive beginner level to the most sophisticated interactive pieces done by those who have mastered scripting and advanced textures.
And the imaginative leap Second Life allows us is that we can place a piece of sculpture next to a waterfall, or float it on a cloud, to give us a totally unique experience not possible in the physical world. No rust, corrosion or danger from the elements ensues and we can move it with a mouse click.
Voila.
Now the question is - where will this creation end up next - and in what form?
I got the opportunity to sit in on an interesting podcast recording setting from today, with the Social Media Bible Interview with Mark Kingdon (M Linden), the CEO of Linden Labs, creator of Second Life.
The location in the Social Media Bible Garden Pinastri (159, 203, 20).was a great place to ask hang out and ask questions of Mark and chat with Lon along with a bevy of invited guests.
Thanks to Francine Hardaway for hooking me up with Lon. I wish I saw Francine more often in Second Life but I know that she knows its potential!
Social Media Podcast website
Sun's Solaris Campus in Second Life is an experimental learning environment and
community created by Sun Learning Service to make learning about
Solaris immersive, easy, and fun plus it's being talked up by Dana in Geeksville who says:
Second Life (SL) is easy to misunderstand, and many people have the wrong idea that it is some kind of game environment, or a place where people just chat and act silly.
On the contrary, Second Life has many places of learning from Science Friday, to Buddhist meditations, to technical seminars. Many corporations are set up in SL now to teach consumers about their business, do business online, and to have a virtual space where employees can have meetings.
. . .Sun is opening Sun Solaris Campus this month for developers. Don't think traditional campus - think a fun, unique and community-oriented virtual campus. At this inworld campus, you'll be able to talk with experts, listen to informative chats about Solaris, and network with other developers
Try to solve all pieces of a puzzle for real life prizes, meet Sun-certified Solaris 10 instructor Stephen Mohr (Sidifen Yiyuan) and learn all about Solaris plus join in the Solaris scavenger hunt on October 10, 2008 right after the instructor-led session with Sun-certified instructors at 9:30AM Pacific time /12:30 PM Eastern time.
Other live events including Office Hours by Sun employees are viewable from the Solaris Campus in Second Life as well as via this Solaris Campus Google Calendar.
Second Life URL (SLURL) to the Solaris Campus:http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sun%20Microsystems%201/32/231/22
There's a learning curve in Second Life for sure. The evolution of how we look, what we think is cool, and what our activities are over our first weeks and months are virtually uniformly topics of much amusement later on.
So one of the first things I'd do if I were exploring Second Life as a total newcomer is to order Sarah Robbins' book Second Life for Dummies. Beyond doing a superb job covering the basics, this is a book you'll not just use to help you get up to speed and understand the idea of Second Life and the techniques you'll need to participate in the world. It's one of those books you'll grab repeatedly over time to remind yourself of something you thought you knew!
And there's a lot to know, so it's not a surprise that universities are actually teachinng not just IN Second Life, but Second Life as a subject. The courses: Second Life 101 from University of Illinois Graduate School for example describes:
"four fun and interactive sessions that will assist you with Second Life Basics, acquaint you with educational and other great places to go, teach you how to design an avatar - virtual persona - and give you the skills you need to enjoy Second Life."
The real issue I'd have is that unless one is using Second Life as a requirement for employment or education, there are few beginners who will see the value in spending $125 for four classes on the very basic parts of the new resident experience.
To be honest, even in hindsight many of us might say that we could have had closets full of SL clothing, the very best hair, lots of techie toys, and even land for an $125 initial outlay.
Instead, there are other no cost / low cost options I'd suggest every new resident could take advantage of.
One is New Citizens Incorporated which provides classes and other free events in Second Life as well as a blog with tips and updates. There is a free New Citizens Inc. group in-world and five campuses where you can get help, information, education and even freebies. Find them at
NCI classes include basic and advanced courses in building and texturing, clothing and accessory creation, scripting, and land ownership. Examples of other basic SL classes include Second Life 101, Using the Search Menu, Avatar Makeover, SL Consumer Skills, and New Resident Q&A.
If you're more a video type and want to get some insight about what SL is all about Studio Dell has produced a number of videos such as the one embeded below, or look for the longer form interview demonstration from a writer, long embeded in Second Life, in Robert Scoble's series of four videos with Wagner James Au who has also authored books included in my picks shown above.
From inside Linden Lab, and for information on everything from how to change your body shape to how to make a flexible flag, Torley Linden's never ending stream of videos are informative, Though sometimes overwhelming to newcomers, Torley's videos are available on both YouTube and his website.
Not possible in our physical world, such artistry as this creation by Robbie Dingo can be accomplished, viewed, and enjoyed via the virtual world of Second Life
"Virtual worlds offer a rich immersive environment where anything you can imagine is possible. From training applications, to sales tools, to real-money commerce, virtual worlds offer a wealth of entrepreneurial opportunities. Get ready to embrace these brave new worlds, if you haven’t already"
Finding the Real-World Value in Virtual Worlds Cutter Consortium IT Journals
As explained this afternoon at a presentation in Second Life, most of us would not know what to do if someone we loved went missing. In fact, in a time of emotional angst most of us would find it impossible to produce the critical information needed by law enforcement.
Since every minute counts we need to all be prepared.
A free downloadable Personal ID Kit provided by Project Jason contains a list of the first steps to take in the event your loved one is missing, plus valuable information that law enforcement will need.
It is important that we should have a kit filled out and ready to go for each member of the family, from infants to grandparents. You are never too old for a Personal id kit. The tragedy of the missing knows no age boundaries.
Get more information and learn more about project Jason at http://www.projectjason.org
Ronnie Rhode, a colleague at Nonprofit Commons has let me know that NCI, Garden for the Missing & Project Jason a nonprofit organization which assists families of the missing will be holding a special event to provide you with information we hope you never need.
"Kelly Jolkowski from Project Jason will share information about her experiences when her son Jason disappeared, & her organization's activities in SL. We will do questions & answers on what to do should someone go missing."
Personal ID Kits usefull in RL life will be available to all.
The event will be held at 5PM eastern, today Sept 28. That's 2 PM Pacific, aka Second Life Time.
The location will be in the beautiful Duchy of Caledon which is not to be missed when learning about and exploring Second Life.
From an announcement from World2Worlds today comes information and invitation:
Conventional technology analysis copes poorly with emerging tech. Technology Intelligence Group, a new venture headed by Christian Renaud, who was Chief Architect, Networked Virtual Reality for Cisco until earlier this year, proposes a disruptive social model for analysis, harnessing Virtual Worlds and other new tech to connect experts directly with those who need to know.
On Tuesday September 30th at 1PM Eastern, 10 AM Pacific, TIG CEO Christian Renaud, colleagues and lead analysts will talk with us about this new model for the future at World2Worlds
World2Worlds events include numerous others including the education session pictured above, presented during August when Chris Gibson, Vice President of Educational Technology and Janyth Ussery, Director of Web Education for Texas State College West Texas shared info about their new degree and certificate programs delivered via Second Life.
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