Who Would You Like To Be?

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=2496361n

The above is a link to a great CBS News cast about SL. "Second Life is an on-line virtual world that is more than a game, where people can live out many of their fantasies. David Pogue explores this new world of internet wish fulfillment mixed with money." In this newscast, there is even an interview with CEO Phillip Rosedale.

Regards till my next blog,
Dembe

Scuba Diving in SL?

Another very interesting experience in SL has been occurring over the weekends in SL. When Dembe is not exploring educational areas during the week, on the weekend she has fun in SL. Dembe has found that she loves scuba in SL. Each location brings a new adventure.

Above Dembe and KM went Scuba diving. The above local was not that great. However, there are many great locations in SL to scuba dive that we have found over the past couple of weekends.

For a person with asthma in RL that could never, ever scuba dive, this was a very fun experience.


Dembe and KM highly recommend trying scuba in SL. It was very fun and a lot of great places inworld exist for this activity. The above pictures where taken by KM and I would like to thank him for sharing them with me.

Some great scuba places we would like to suggest in SL for Scuba:

Hukilau Village located at http://slurl.com/secondlife/hukilau/61/111/23 This local gives away free scuba gear in your choice of colors: green, yellow, black, pink and blue. It includes a dive meter that shows depth of your dive. However, this gear only works on this sim. It disappears when you go to another sim and try and use it. The dive itself includes beautiful fish, sharks and underwater scenery. This is a must go scuba location.

Platonic Paradise Republic located at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Platon/140/139/13. This local had some beautiful scenery for scuba. This is a must see location to explore. I could not locate any scuba gear here on this sim. You will have to buy gear to use in this area. Scuba gear seems to run from 150L to 250L depending on wear you purchase it in SL.

Please add some SLurls for great places to scuba in SL for others to try if you know of any.

Regards till my next post,
Dembe

Top 10 Things You Thought You Would Never Say in a Classroom as a Teacher or Educator

Okay, over the past few months, I have been to meetings in SL, held meetings in SL, attended classes in SL, observed classes in SL on the teen and adult grid. And of course played in SL. :-)

During this time period, Dembe began a collection of phrases and quotes that she never thought she might have to use or say in a classroom during her educational career. SL has open boundaries in new areas and classroom policies and rules is no exception.

Below, I would like to share with you the top 10 Phrases Educators Never Thought They Might Say in a Classroom:

10. Instead of riding around on your cow, do you think you can assist some of the other avatars in class.
9. Who needs 100L to upload and complete the project?
8. Remember - no skin in class.
7. Please take your tail off.
6. You can't wear those wings in here.
5. Lets try to keep all our communication in world today!
4. We have a large class today, please take off any extra prims such as, tails, cat ears and other non-necessary prim items.
3. This is a weapons free zone. Please leave all weapon in your inventory.
2. Great! You have the basic skills down, you can walk, talk and fly.
1. Who left out the jet pack?

I hope you enjoyed reading these as much as I have collecting them over the past few weeks.

Regards till my next post,
Dembe

Pear Computer: Educational Tool in SL

Above, you can see Dembe with her Pear Computer getting ready to choose an application from the menu. The tool is easy to use and in the above picture is attached to Dembe like a HUD. Others can NOT see this image, only Dembe.

http://sl-pear.blogspot.com/

According to the above blog webpage, "Pear Computers was founded in the middle of January 2006 at Porcupine by Zoe Cure and Kilgore Pontoppidan. The idea was to build a real powerful tool that makes your life easier and more interesting in Second Life."

Pear products main store is locate at: http://slurl.com/secondlife/porcupine/230/96/143

For only 300L you can own a Pear Computer that has educational uses for instructors in any SL classroom. I recieved this item a few days a go and have been playing with it since. This item has many exciting tools that have an educational benefit. They are as follows:

• pMail - (E-Mail Client) receive and write real e-mails in SL.
• pVisit - (Visitor Detector) find out when you have visitors near your laptop (can't start pVisit if you are not the owner)
• pCalc - (Calculator) a ordinary calculator in SL.
• pInfo - (Avatar Tool) learn more about yourself in SL.
• pComm - (Web-based Communicator) to chat with you friends in SL.
• pAdmin - (Admin Tool) control access to your laptop (can't start pAdmin if you are not the owner)
• BarounNet - (SL Network) connect the the widespread network of BarounNet.
  

One of the many features of this Pear Computer is that you can leave it on your land/classroom and use the administrative controls to lock it and it can track what students actually come to the classroom, when and for how long. I found another item on SL similar to this single application feature in the Spy Gear Central Store. It was called the Business Sensor and sold for 200L just for this one feature at http://slurl.com/secondlife/sede di marte/102/167/39

This Business Sensor has a configuration wizard that lets you configure:
a. Sensor range
b. How often the sensor performs a scan
c. Whether IM notifications are on or off
d. Whether reports should be automatically emailed to you
e. Whether the sensor should be visible or invisible
f. The sensor should start detecting who comes within range, and how long they stay.

Looking at just this feature on the Pear alone for 300L makes it a good value for any educator.

Probably the least functional item on the Pear Computer was the calculator application. It has a calculator to do math in SL. Other than calculating Lindens, I am not sure why this basic calculator would be needed. Especially since the calculator application on the PC could be used just as easily. However, if this feature could be expanded to include some TI Navigator applications, then the Pear Computer would be a very valuable and powerful educational tool for mathematics alone.

My favorite feature of the Pear Computer would have to be the email feature. This application allows the user to communicate inworld and out of world through email. This would make it easy to send emails and blog updates directly from inworld to the email of a blog. The same could be done with assignments and group projects to the professor/teacher. It seems that this email feature has endless possibilities for use.

The Pear comes with easy to use instructions.

Regards till my next posting,
Dembe


They are as follows for those interested:
The Pear Book P1 Applications:

pMail - (E-Mail Client) receive and write real e-mails in SL.
pVisit - (Visitor Detector) find out when you have visitors near your laptop.
(can't start pVisit if you are not the owner)
pCalc - (Calculator) a ordinary calculator in SL.
pInfo - (Avatar Tool) learn more about yourself in SL.
pComm - (Web-based Communicator) to chat with you friends in SL
pAdmin - (Admin Tool) control access to your laptop
(can't start pAdmin if you are not the owner)
BarounNet - (SL Network) connect the the widespread network of
BarounNet.

check out our website: www.sl-pear.com

Pear Book Manuel
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Welcome to Pear Computers Inc.

2. APPLICATION GUIDE
2.1 Using the Pear Book
2.2 How to use pMail
2.3 How to use pVisit
2.4 How to use pCalc
2.5 How to use pInfo
2.6 How to use pAdmin
2.7 How to use pComm
2.8 BarounNet


3. THE GROUP
3.1 Join our Group at SL

4. CREDITS
4.1 Management
4.2 Software
4.3 Design
4.4 Marketing & Sales

5. Contacts
5.1 Pear Computer Inc. Store & Office
5.2 Questions?
----------------------------------------------

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Welcome to the World of Pear Computers Inc.

Thank you for purchasing a Pear Computer, we hope
you are satisfied with our product and services.
Come and visit our stores to get upgrades and new
software if available, or Join our Group to get
notifed about Pear Products.
----------------------------------------------
2. APPLICATION GUIDE

2.1 Using the Pear Book
When you have first rezzed the Pear Book, it will be in a logged off state. In order to turn it on you need to touch it.
You will then be presented with a menu displaying all the applications you have installed, as well as a Shut Down button, that will turn the computer off.
This menu is the default menu. If you on any of the menus in the computer ever click ignore the menu will go away. But all you have to do is to touch the machine to get this default menu back on. After 3 minutes with no interaction the machine will automatically turn off.
Some menu items are only available to the owner of the laptop - like the Visitor Detector pVisit and the control panel pAdmin.
If you find your laptop locked due to another user using it, you can always, as the owner, turn off the machine by touching it while another user session is in progress.

2.2 How to use pMail
pMail is a simple email client. When you have opened the program from the main menu you can choose "Write mail" to create and send a new email. In the "Write mail" dialog you will be presented with the mail you are working on. A mail contains a To field, a Subject field and a Body. Click any of these options and you can simply say (in one line) what the contents of that field should be. When you are done click "Send mail" to send the mail. It might take up to a minute to send the email so have patience. If you reply to an email from this computer, you should be able to read it by choosing "Read mail".

2.3 How to use pVisit
pVisit is a simple visitor detector. If you leave your laptop at your home and turn on the visitor detector it can send you an IM every time you have a guest. From a simple menu based system you can set up how often to poll for visitors and within what range. You can also turn the entire feature on and off.
The pVisit is only available to the owner of the laptop.

2.4 How to use pCalc
pCalc is almost self explanatory. It is a simple menu based calculator. At this time it only works with integers and does not support floating point operations. Start it from the pCalc menu button and input the numbers and symbols using the menu.
Choose "Close" to return to main menu.

2.5 How to use pInfo
pInfo examines meta-information about your agent and avatar and presents them in a menu box. Choose "Close" to return to main menu.

2.6 How to use pAdmin
pAdmin is the administrative tool available to the owner of the Pear Book. From within a simple menu you can here choose to "Lock" your computer - meaning that nobody besides the owner can log into it. You can also choose to turn on IM's which means that you will retrieve an IM when a user tries to log into the laptop - or you can simply choose to log it and then use the admin tool to review the log of logins.

2.7 How to use pComm
pComm is a RL Communicator that gives you the chance to chat with people around your laptop without beeing online in SL. First connect you Pear from outside SL. Use the Get URL to go to the control web page, then bookmarkit so you can use easylie later. To use the Webinterface of pComm follow the instruction on the website. Everytime you are rezzing your Pear Book the ID will change and you have to do a new bookmark.

2.8 How to use BarounNet
BarounNet is an inworld SL network that broadcasts lots of news, books, classifieds etc. This is an implementation of the free client offered by Baroun Tardis. After you've rezzed the laptop the first time it will take some time to start the application. It will try to connect to an external server and receive updates. Then you can choose the category you are interested in and it will request notecards for you with exiting news. You can choose "Update" from the menu to retrieve new news. Note that you can only update 4 times a day.
Contact Baroun Tardis for more information about the BarounNet.
----------------------------------------------
3. THE GROUP

3.1 Join the Pear Computers Inc. Group at SL.
We created a Group that could by joined by
everyone at SL. You will recive news and dates
also get notifed about Pear Products and updates.
Just write to Zoe Cure (Group Manager) or Kilgore
Pontoppidan (Group Manager) to invite you or invite
yourself.
----------------------------------------------

Edwards SL Campaign

We have seen Denmark's Embassy in SL. Other European elections debates in SL. Now with the onset of our American 2008 Presidential Elections, SL seems like it is going to be a campaign battle ground. Especially since the cyber assault on the campaign headquarters. I have had a number of emails from my blog readers asking me to cover the Edwards Cyber SL Terrorist Attack. This story seems a little old, so Dembe decided to see how the Edwards camp is holding up after the attack. For those readers interested in the cyber attack details, The SL Herald has covered this story at http://www.secondlifeherald.com/slh/2007/03/10_zen_monkeys_.html.

Hearing about this tragic event, Dembe decided to check out the headquarters to see the damage. She found two Edwards locations now in SL. First she checked out the Headquarters located at http://slurl.com/secondlife/onnuri/169/25/87. She was relieved to see that this location was at least set up in a PG sim. When she arrived, the first thing she noticed was that there seemed to be a lot of land for sale around the Edwards Camp.


There was nobody at the Edwards Campaign location on Onnuri to ask questions or even a mention the cyber attack. The only object Dembe could find at the location was a Blue Bird flying around the Headquarters. Object in this local seemed to belong to an avatar named Jose Rote.

She looked around and found a podium with TV Cameras. Dembe decided to do what every other avatar in SL would do. Try the podium.


The animations for this podium where very good! Dembe looked very presidential!



It was easy to use and was not locked. All Dembe had to do was click on the podium and sit and she was in speech mode.


Dembe felt she looked pretty good behind this podium and comfortable as well. Dembe Wellman for President!

Okay, Dembe decided it was time to get back to SL reality. She did not think 2,700 Lindens was enough to run a presidential campaign so she decided to look around further. She noticed she could get those free Edwards Tennis Shoes and T-Shirt as mentioned on the news. What avatar in SL would not take free clothing?


It was then that Dembe noticed what she thought was an addition to the Edwards Headquarters - or so it looked like from a distance. She flew over to check it out.

It turned out to be an anti-Edwards campaign right next door that was set up.

With an almost identical set up, but a Red Bird flying around the center. Hummm, any political messages here in these color birds? Dembe decided to check around this site further and found that the anti-Edwards campaign was offering many more items - seven in total - a t-shirt, button, Edwards Hat, Edwards Panties, an Edwards mug, badge and flag. Still there was nobody around this site either to answer questions about the anti Edwards campaign.

Dembe decided she needed to look at the other Edwards headquarters location set up at http://slurl.com/secondlife/laguna beach/219/113/23. Laguna Beach sounded nice and she hoped to be a little more successful in this local. She was also happy to see that this location was also set up in a PG sim.

Upon her arrival, there was nobody at this site at first. Only a few election signs and a box of free Edwards stuff that included a Landmark, t-shirt and two Edwards Presidential Election Buttons. I wonder if these will become a collectors item? However, Dembe turned around and there was a person from the Tomorrow Begins Today Group named Wyldshaman Shirabyoshi. I was greeted with a friendly, "Hello Dembe". This avatar was happy to show me around and get a visitor.


Dembe proceeded to converse with this avatar. She asked if this was the location of the cyber attack or the other base? Wyldshaman did not know, but expressed he is working for the campaign, but not "part" of the campaign. This avatar believes Edwards was in support of this SL site, but is not sure. He thinks he is working for a legitimate Edwards Headquarters because of the Greeter note cards, but has not received anything official.

At this location I was able to get the following note card:
This list will be sent out on a regular basis and will give you ideas for how you can help Senator Edwards win the presidency. Please contact Redaktisto Noble, Hervy Rikichi, Arc Karski or Jose Rote with any questions.

TO DO IN SECOND LIFE:
1. Volunteer at Edwards Campaign Central, located at http://slurl.com/secondlife/laguna beach/219/113/23.
Volunteering is very easy and you can do it on your own schedule. The basic job is to greet visitors. Find out more in this note card:
Thank you for volunteering your time to support Senator Edwards! Our innovative effort has already garnered a lot of buzz, both within Second Life and in real-world media. We want people like you to help us welcome guests and further Sen. Edwards' candidacy through the primaries and until he becomes our next President!
You can volunteer on your own schedule, and there is no minimum amount of time you can spend helping out. Ideally, we'll have several volunteers on site all day, every day!

RESPONSIBILITIES OF VOLUNTEERS
- Greet visitors to our Second Life Headquarters.
- Provide a welcoming and orderly environment for guests.
- Invite visitors to participate in the SL and real-world campaigns.
- Handle questions and refer journalists to the right people.

KEY FACTS
- Senator John Edwards is a Democratic candidate for U.S. President.
- His main issues are fighting poverty, improving the environment, creating universal health care, ending the war in Iraq, and strengthening the middle class.
- The campaign in Second Life is volunteer-based and not run by the official campaign. However, they are aware and supportive of our efforts.
- The SL campaign has attracted numerous griefers (people who cause problems for visitors), vandals, and at least one parody site (saying it supports TV psychic John Edward for President).

RESPONSIBILITY 1- GREETING VISITORS
Everyone who visits the site should be greeted by name. Identify yourself as a volunteer here to help guests. Offer to answer their questions and provide any other help they might need.

RESPONSIBILITY 2 - PROVIDE A WELCOMING AND ORDERLY ENVIRONMENT
Many people will visit our site unsure of what to expect, or even why they are there. Your welcoming attitude can make the difference between staying and leaving. Everyone is welcome at our headquarters, regardless of their political opinions, and discussion is strongly encouraged.
At the same time, some people will come to disrupt what is going on. The general attitude towards such visitors is to ignore silly behavior until it crosses the line, and to warn once before punishing disruptive visitors by ejecting them. Here is a list of offenses for which someone should be warned, and then ejected on their second offense:
- Pretending to be with the Edwards campaign.
- Using highly offensive language.
- Vandalizing the headquarters (measures are in place to keep this from happening).
- Harassing other visitors.

If, after ejecting them, they continue to disrupt please report their behavior to Redaktisto Noble, Hervy Rikichi, Arc Karski or Jose Rote so they can be banned permanently.

RESPONSIBILITY 3 - INVITE VISITORS TO PARTICIPATE.
Anyone who expresses interest in supporting or knowing more about the Edwards campaign in Second Life or in real life should be directed to join the group "John Edwards 2008" and to visit the official campaign website http://johnedwards.com
Members of the SL group will receive updates on group activities.
Visitors can also be directed through the boardwalk trail where they can learn about Sen. Edwards and some of the issues that he is highlighting. There is also a stop called "How To Get Involved" with links to many ways supporters can help the Edwards campaign.

RESPONSIBILITY 4 - ANSWER QUESTIONS
Many guests will want to know more about Sen. Edwards, his ideas, the SL campaign, and you. There is a wealth of information available on the campaign's website, http://johnedwards.com You are strongly encouraged to become familiar with Sen. Edwards' background, his key issues, and campaign news. However. if someone asks a question and you are not sure of the answer, simply say you don't know but will find out and get back to them. It is much better to check than to take a guess and potentially misrepresent the campaign.
Many journalists and bloggers continue to visit the site, interested in the use of new media in political campaigning. Make sure they know you are a volunteer and that the effort is volunteer based. Refer any questions or interview requests to Redaktisto Noble, redaktisto@gmail.com

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SL CAMPAIGN
Sen. Edwards announced his candidacy in late December 2006, and by the next day there was a group of SL supporters in a group called "Edwards for President." A few weeks later, another volunteer named Jose Rote started "John Edwards Campaign Central" and a group "John Edwards 2008". The groups merged under Rote's leadership and quickly grew to several hundred members.
The Edwards campaign has several firsts in SL - the official campaign set up an avatar for the candidate in May 2006 (though he hasn't used it yet as far as we know), the Edwards group was the first to support a US presidential candidate, and "Campaign Central" was the first SL headquarters for a US presidential candidate.
Being the first has drawn plenty of attention, good and bad. After a string of media articles about the SL headquarters hit the blogosphere, griefers and satirists came too. This has drawn further attention, and the site continues to draw many visitors each day.
Jose Rote has handed responsibility for the SL campaign to a steering committee of committed volunteers. To avoid some of the drawbacks of SL campaigning, supporters recently moved the SL headquarters to the Laguna Beach sim.

2. You can pick up some free campaign gear at our Campaign Central, but you can also help promote the campaign by going to http://slurl.com/secondlife/jeon/26/113/79 and buying a John Edwards yard sign (for L$49) or flag (for L$99). There is a running tally of which supporters have purchased the most, and it is a fun way to show the level of support for Senator Edwards in Second Life.

3. Share your ideas on how our SL effort can join the official Edwards campaign effort to be carbon neutral. What can we do to reduce our carbon footprint from using SL, and to offset the environmental effects of the energy we do consume?

TO DO ON THE WEB:
1. Vote for Sen. Edwards in the Daily KOS Straw Poll - http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/3/15/114531/434

2. Contribute to the Edwards campaign on our Grassroots Fundraising Page "Second Life Residents for Edwards" - https://johnedwards.com:443/action/contribute/mygrassroots/?page_id=Mjc1OTU

TO DO IN REAL LIFE:
1. Host (or at least attend) a John Edwards House Party on Wednesday, March 28. You can find out more at http://blog.johnedwards.com/oc/houseparty

NEWS:

1. Senator Edwards gave a stirring speech this week on "Transformational Change for America and the World." He laid out his plan to fight domestic and global poverty, including the creation of a Cabinet-level position to fight poverty. You can read the speech at http://blog.johnedwards.com/story/2007/3/15/165835/932

2. Our SL effort was part of a National Public Radio report on candidates' use of social networking sites. Hear it at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8922995

After reviewing the above note card, Wyldshaman showed me the path for Edwards campagin beginning with a PPT presentation at this location.


The above was very well done. However, I did not stay and read all the slides. We moved on to the next station of the campaign.

The path was broken up into the following areas - each with a note card.

Who is the Man

Ending Poverty - the blue box with the question mark contains the note card on his position.


Iraq

Notecard from this location:
Notecard on Iraq - Feb 14, 2007

"Edwards calls on Congress to stop debating and take action: Cap funding for troops in Iraq at 100,000 troops and stop the surge; end war in 2008"

"Says Bush is acting without authorization"

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Senator John Edwards today laid out a comprehensive proposal for Congress to implement his plan to stop President Bush’s escalation of the war in Iraq and begin an immediate withdrawal by capping funding for troops at 100,000, and requiring withdrawal of all combat troops over the next 12-18 months.

“Nearly a month ago, I called on Congress to block the President’s escalation of war. Unfortunately, while Congress has been debating Iraq, President Bush has been surging troops into Iraq. The escalation is underway, so blocking it is no longer enough – now we have to take the next step and cap funding to mandate a withdrawal,” Edwards said. “We don’t need debate; we don’t need non-binding resolutions; we need to end this war, and Congress has the power to do it. They should use it now. In order to get the Iraqi people to take responsibility for their country, we must show them that we are serious about leaving, and the best way to do that is to actually start leaving.”

Edwards believes that the only solution to the situation in Iraq is a political solution, which requires all the parties in Iraq to take responsibility for the future of their country. By leaving Iraq, the Iraqi people, regional powers, and the entire international community will be forced to engage in the search for a political solution that will end the sectarian violence and create a stable Iraq. Escalating the war sends exactly the wrong signal to the Iraqi people, regional powers and the world.

Edwards’ plan for Iraq calls for Congress to:

* Cap funding for the troops in Iraq at 100,000 troops to stop the surge and implement an immediate drawdown of 40-50,000 combat troops. Any troops beyond that level should be redeployed immediately.
* Prohibit funding to deploy any new troops to Iraq that do not meet real readiness standards and that have not been properly trained and equipped, so American tax dollars are used to train and equip our troops, instead of escalating the war.
* Make it clear that President Bush is conducting this war without authorization. The 2002 authorization did not give President Bush the power to use U.S. troops to police a civil war. President Bush exceeded his authority long ago, and now needs to end the war and ask Congress for new authority to manage the withdrawal of the U.S. military presence and to help Iraq achieve stability.
* Require a complete withdrawal of combat troops in Iraq in the next 12-18 months without leaving behind any permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq.

After withdrawal, Edwards believes that sufficient forces should remain in the region to contain the conflict and ensure that instability in Iraq does not spillover and create a regional war, a terrorist haven, or spark a genocide. In addition, Edwards believes the U.S. should step up our diplomatic efforts by engaging in direct talks with all the nations in the region, including Iran and Syria and work to bring about a political solution to the sectarian violence inside Iraq, including through a peace conference. He also believes the U.S. must intensify its efforts to train the Iraqi security forces.

John Edwards has a bold plan to transform America's health care system and provide universal health care for every man, woman and child in America.

Under the Edwards Plan:

* Families without insurance will get coverage at an affordable price.
* Families with insurance will pay less and get more security and choices.
* Businesses and other employers will find it cheaper and easier to insure their workers.

The Edwards Plan achieves universal coverage by:

* Requiring businesses and other employers to either cover their employees or help finance their health insurance.
* Making insurance affordable by creating new tax credits, expanding Medicaid and SCHIP, reforming insurance laws, and taking innovative steps to contain health care costs.
* Creating regional "Health Markets" to let every American share the bargaining power to purchase an affordable, high-quality health plan, increase choices among insurance plans, and cut costs for businesses offering insurance.
* Once these steps have been taken, requiring all American residents to get insurance.

Securing universal healthcare for every American will require the active involvement of millions of Americans.

For more information check out http://johnedwards.com/about/issues/health-care-overview.pdf

America's leadership role in the world has grown out of our compassion and moral strength, as well as our unparalleled economic and military strength. We can be proud of our long history of using our strength to fight for the freedom of others, but our standing in the world has been badly tarnished. America can once again be looked up to and respected around the world. The first step is by immediately withdrawing 40,000-50,000 troops from Iraq, with the complete withdrawal of all combat troops from Iraq within 12-18 months -- allowing the Iraqis to assume greater responsibility for rebuilding their own country. It also means working to restore our legitimacy by leading on the great challenges before us like the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the genocide in Darfur, extreme poverty, and living up to our ideals in the fight against terrorism.

Universal Healthcare


Protecting the Environment

Restoring America's Moral Leadership In The World


Getting Involved in the Campaign


Wyldshaman seemed to be able to discuss Edwards campaign issues. However, this early in the election process, Dembe is not even sure what Edwards campaign platform is. Or any other presidential hopeful for that matter. It would be interesting to compare this well done SL Edwards campaign exhibit to his RL campaign. What Dembe saw seemed pretty on target. However, Dembe is only a voter in the SL 3-D world and her user reserves the right to make different voting decisions in RL.

Regardless, Edwards Campagn Headquaters on Laguna Beach was much more informative and well done than on Onnuri. My only suggestion: Hilary and any other Democratic hopefuls - You need to get your SL Game on!

Regards to my next blog,
Dembe

ProtonMedia and Business

As educators, we are always trying to tie student learning in with business and industry standards and technology to help prepare the next generation of our labor market. Our goal is to promote and foster the growth of active citizenenship, empower them with deductive and critical thinking skills, and finally to lead them through learning with industry standards technology. In order to do this as educators, we need to look at not only our national economy, but also business and industry trends.

As a result, a fascinating website has crossed over my desk from the SLED list serve entitled Proton Media - http://www.protonmedia.com/. This website link offers a video overview of the companies mission and goal. The company has created a flagship product in the 3D world called Protosphere as a new way to communicate, work and learn through simulations. This 3-D world is outside of SL, but it is a definate sign that programs such as SL are having an impact on industry and learning since more and more of these types of business are beginning to pop-up.

More can be obtained from the Protosphere Brochure. http://www.learningwiki.com/files/protonMedia/ProtoSphere%20Brochure.pdf

Regards till my next posting,
Dembe

Real Life Educational Places in SL

While on the SL Campus Island located at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Campus/151/143/31, I came across a note card from Pathfinder Linden when I clicked on the below picture of the hand. To pick up this note card go to the above SLurl.

He describes a list of publically accessible places in his SL note card “where educators and students are working together as part of a real life class or educational research project.” In addition, there is also a book to look through here that shows you each of these projects.

He updates this kiosk periodically. “ If you would like your place listed here and want a directory kiosk on your own land, please contact Pathfinder Linden.”

The following are SLurls and descriptions from his note card I retrieved and I am happy to I have visited these places over the past month and highly recommend them as a must visit in SL:

Pathfinders Note Card:

LAST UPDATE: 02.11.07 (newest additions will now be added at the top of this note card)

http://slurl.com/secondlife/InfoIsland II/114/202/24
At the Second Life Science Center you'll find a 3D visualization of live national weather (http://tinyurl.com/yfajns), an exhibit on 3D carbon nanotubes (http://tinyurl.com/vvew4), and more! They are also working to help those interested in creating science content in Second Life, as well as organizing a directory of in-world science content.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Meteroa/145/131/28
The US government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Earth System Research Laboratory (http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/) has set up a simulation space in Second Life to teach folks about the earth's weather and oceans. Ride a plane inside a hurricane, experience a tsunami, take a trip in a submarine and more. Hackshaven Harford is the driving force behind this amazing space, and you can read more here (http://tinyurl.com/hgf3w).

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Terminus/146/210/27
Interested in artificial life? Check out the Second Life Ecosystem on Terminus, which features a working ecosystem with different species created by various Resident developers. You'll see many natural wonders, elusive "gridlouse" scurrying about, and beautiful swimming jellypods in the ocean. It's a fascinating collaborative experiment. Learn more including how to contribute to the project by visiting their wiki (http://tinyurl.com/t7w7t).

http://slurl.com/secondlife/InfoIsland/55/200/33

The SLED Picayune is a publication created to cover topics related to education, training, and library sciences in Second Life. Its format is a 'notecard' that readers can get by touching any SLED Picayune kiosk. Should you wish to receive a copy automatically (in-world), consider joining the group, "Picayune SLEDheads." Our intention is to publish a new issue each Wednesday afternoon. The publication and joining the group are free to all.

Sections in the publication include: news, events, opinions & ideas, product reviews, people, links & landmarks, as well as an "Info Island Update." For those wishing to advertise "Help Wanted" or "Help Offered," there is also a classifieds section.

To contribute a news item, event, article or classified ad, or to get a kiosk placed at your location, email: sledpicayune@gmail.com

Archives of older issues will be stored at the SLED Picayune office on Info Island. Some of the information will also be repeated at the website.

Founder and Executive Editor: Milosun Czervik
Managing Editor: Intellagirl Tully

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Svarga/7/124/22
Nearly all of the plant-life in this area of the sim is part of a beta test for a fully functional artificial ecology system for Second Life. Everything is actually growing and replicating by itself, complete with a simulated weather system.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/SpaceportAlpha/47/82/24
An amazing museum featuring lifesized models of real life spacecraft and rockets. Lots of interactive exhibits and educational material covering astronomy, space exploration, and astrophysics. There's also a viewing area where you can watch a live feed of NASA TV, and there are frequently live educational events and discussions. This museum covers an entire region (16-acres), so plan on spending a day exploring! For more information please contact Troy McLuhan.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Games1/200/236/23
The Social Simulation Research Lab is a public hub of cyber-research resources in Second Life. The Lab's library brings together over 50 publications on the social science of internet research, computer-mediated communication and online studies, plus many links to researchers' homepages, other online resources and online cyber-research journals. Contributions are welcome! If you have a paper/resource you'd like to add to the SSRL's shelves or would like to suggest one, email secondlife@surrey.ac.uk

The SSRL is a non-partisan project, but is the home of University of Surrey PhD student Mynci Gorky (aka Aleks Krotoski). It's also the base for the Second Life Social Network research project, which aims to map the social relationships of SL residents in order to understand how information flows through social virtual worlds like Second Life. More information on the research is available at http://www.surrey.ac.uk/~psp1ak

You can contribute! Everyone with an account is welcome to take part and help us fill in the gaps in the SL social network! Participating is easy - simply go to the online survey at http://www.psy.surrey.ac.uk/survey21 and fill in your SL friends. Further questions help to determine where they're placed in your immediate social network. This information will be added to the SL network to generate a meta-map of interaction.

The associated SocialSim blog also tracks changes in the project and makes announcements of interest to cyber-research and online culture. Check it out at http://socialsim.blogspot.com

Finally, the SSRL is also host to events, including in-world discussions and lectures with leading cyber-researchers from around the world. If you would like to participate in this exciting lecture series or would like to suggest a researcher, please contact the SSRL at secondlife@surrey.ac.uk!

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Info Island/52/74/33
Visit Info Island! Come to the Alliance Second Life Library to get information, attend programs of interest including book discussions and authors, find out about great books to read, and more. The Island also has a Medical Library where you can get information and programs on health, a history gallery garden where you can get to know people from the past, a scifipod in the sky where different science fiction writers will be featured each month, and a beautiful rock pond garden where you can relax. Alliance Library System is spearheading this project, but librarians and others from around the world are involved to create a library presence in Second Life.

Info Island also has a Writing/Performance Center, the ICT Library, Techsoup.org, and World Bridges.

For more information, visit http://www.infoisland.org. If you'd like to participate in the RL discussion about Second Life Library 2.0, please also consider joining the Google group: http://groups.google.com/group/alliancesecondlife

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Chamonix/223/162/105

BetterWorlds.com introduces virtual solutions to real world adaptive learning education with our new line of products, the Better Worlds VIEW System. (The Virtual Interactive Educational Workshop System).

Better Worlds VIEWs brings technology based immersive learning to the classroom. Using adaptave learning concepts in a virtual world environment will enable educators to offer nearly any sort of first hand learning experience that they can imagine. With Better Worlds VIEWs virtually any life experience can be simulated in a realistic and immersive environment.

Of course, we realize that an animated virtual Zebra is no substitute for the sights and smells of a trip to a real zoo, but we believe that combined with one or two such real life trips, virtual worlds offer a way to continue these types of lessons back in the classroom. In fact, some studies researching the use of virtual reality for concept reinforcement and adaptive learning, along with real world exposure to the lesson content show that such combined experiences are often competely successful. We have lots of supporting evidence and we'd be thrilled to share it with you. Some of this information will be made available via our web site at BetterWorlds.com and some will be made available through video, notecard and live presentations made here at Better Worlds Center. See one of our in-world staff members for more concrete evidence about the success rates of using virtual worlds for real world education today.

News Flash: Better Worlds is considering non-profit status allowing us to provide low cost or free educational opportunities to disabled and disadvantaged students. If you are interested in helping to sponsor our activities, contact us for more information on how you can help out.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/InfoIsland/53/204,/33
The ICT Library is a not-for-profit endeavor formed to reach out to members of the educational community working within Second Life. Funds received from sponsors will be used to expand the knowledge of SL members who are interested in using this virtual environment as a way to mediate classes or training.

It is based on a premise of taking information that exists on websites (ex., www.simteach.com, www.secondlife.com/education, various blogs, etc.) and putting it in SL for display and demonstration. The library hopefull will help solve the difficulty many new educators have in finding useful tools and ideas (rather than leave it to serendipity). Central to the Library's goals is the tenet that outreach to educators is essential in helping expand understanding and knowlege of media tools. Specifically, the ICT Library will:

- serve as a repository of tools and scripts that would be useful for instruction (both commercial and "free" tools)

- give hints and tips about how to best use the virtual environment to promote higher levels of thinking and constructivist approaches to learning

- provide case studies of how educators are using tools

- show pictures/descriptions of innovative educational projects

- offer small grants to spur innovation in educational implementation

For more details, or if you are interested in sponsoring the ICT Library, please contact Milosun Czervik.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/AnnenbergIsland/186/67/39
Our vision for USC Annenberg Island is that it be an international virtual worlds portal for public diplomacy. Our goals are to explore how virtual worlds can be used as effective tools to bridge cultural gaps, to foster new ways to resolve conflict, and to learn and teach new skills in communicating with each other to build a better world.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Waterhead/170/8
A public space to share information about real life education in Second Life as well as to hold meetings of the "Real Life Education in Second Life" group. Be sure to visit the kiosk in the photo and click on it to learn more about education opportunities, our Campus:Second Life program, and how you can participate!

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Campus/155/141/28
Most of the Campus: Second Life classes are held right on a region named "Campus" (easy to remember, eh?). If you look around this region, you'll see different classes working on various projects on their individual plots of land. There's also have a public meeting area, a sandbox for temporary building, a public pictureboard for sharing fun photos, a sculpture garden for relaxing between classes, and a campfire for late-nite fireside chats.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Glidden/144/162/27
Glidden Campus
Glidden Campus is a replica of a real life campus in midwest USA. Altgeld Hall is the main structure on the Glidden Campus and was originally built in 1895 by the Architect Charles Eliphalet Brush of Chicago. This 130,000 square foot building was then renovated in 2004 and built in the virtual world in 2006. In order to preserve the immersive quality of the Glidden Campus landscape our virtual classrooms are 600m in the sky. To access them use the bus stop/teleport.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sedig/26/45/21
Virtual Hallucinations
The virtual hallucinations project seeks to educate people about the mental illness schizophrenia. About 1% of the population will develop schizophrenia during their lifetimes. It usually strikes in the late teens or early twenties, and is very debilitating.

People with schizophrenia have "disordered thought" or difficulty maintaining thought processes. They develop delusions, like the belief that the police are after them. They also experience auditory hallucinations, typically one or more voices speaking to or about them. About 25% of people with schizophrenia also experience visual hallucinations, typically distortions of the environment around them.

This clinic building is based on the hallucinations of two specific people with schizophrenia. They were interviewed in detail and gave feedback on early designs for the hallucinations. While the hallucinations are not glamorous, they fairly accurately reproduce these patients' experiences. You should get a sense of just how intrusive the voices of schizophrenia really are.

The virtual hallucinations environment is best experienced in mouselook. One person should go through at a time. Also, at the end, please click on the "Click to take survey" object. We're interested in feedback on the experience.

- Nash Baldwin, aka James Cook, MD MS

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Waterhead/123/57/32
Heart Murmur Sim - Cardiac Auscultation Training Concept
Tour a virtual clinic and test your skills at identifying the sounds of different types of heart murmurs.

Concept and sound editing - Jeremy Kabumpto

Scripting - Eloise Pasteur

Architect - Moon Adamant

Sound files - McGill University Virtual Stethoscope - http://sprojects.mmi.mcgill.ca/mvs/mvsteth.htm

http://slurl.com/secondlife/TheOffice/92/55/27
The course Production of Architecture at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm examines the history, theory and practice of representation and production of architecture. We will see that projective systems affects our understanding of space through the evolution of media such as painting, photography, film and computer generated imagery.

Fourth year students of architecture has started LOL architects; the worlds largest virtual architecture office. Visit us at our office: The Office or look at PDFs, powerpoints, images and texts on the internet. For info: www.unrealstockholm.org, IM me or e-mail at tor@llp.se (SL name: Kapital Metropolitan)

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ambleside/57/107/27
Pathfinders inworld office. "One of my roles at Linden Lab is to help the real life educator community and run the Campus:Second Life program. However, as we have seen this role may be changing very soon.

Twitter - Message Board for SL

Twitter is a Social Networking site that you can use for classes, assignments, updates, etc. I am posting a link to Dembe's Twitter account:

http://twitter.com/Dembe

Twitter is easy to use and set up. You can post messages and updates directly on the site or via your cell phone and/or IM. However, these controls need to be set up in advance.

It seems like a great way to update classes on events and class updates, such as being late or stuck in traffic. It is a cleaver tool, but not a necessary tool for online classes or even SL. I can see it being used very creatively with SL and education, but within reason and caution. It might be more functional to post updates on projects or activities for group exercises.

Regards till my next post,
Dembe

Tsunami Simulation in SL

Fox News - Presidential Hopeful Edwards Set Up SL Headquaters

Texas State University - SL Village Campus

Dutch Politicans Enter SL for Nov 22 Election

NOAA's SL Virtual Island for Weather and Science

San José State University's School of Library & Information Science uses Second Life to Augment its Distance Learning Offerings

Message Board - A Must Have SL Classroom Tool!

Dembe has come across many items in SL that are creative and fun. Many have educational uses. However, the one Dembe is going to spotlight in this blog, pictured above, is the Message Board which is a web-driven tool. Yes, web-driven folks - this means you do not have to log into SL to post messages. It also means you do not have to create any note cards! :-) This is a very cool, exciting and easy to use tool Dembe is fascinated and impressed with. It is a must have educational item for the SL classroom or educational island!

To post a message, simply go to the webpage url, type your message, click post and your message is there in SL for students. It is very user friendly. You can see Dembe's message in the picture at the top of this blog as a sample. This is a great tool to remind students of events - inworld and out, midterms, finals, project and paper due dates, homework, or to simply give out simple instructions and class updates. You can go to the store url listed below and try it out before you buy it for a low price of 199L.


The message board was designed by a game designer and computer programmer named Darius Lahane. Darius is in the picture above with the Message Board he designed. Darius is a very creative designer and owner of iTunes Radio and Particle Wizard Creator on Semang located at http://slurl.com/secondlife/semang/246/45/301. There are many great items for educational us in SL in his store. This is one of a few I plan on blogging about over the next couple of weeks.

The price of this Message Board is 199L and it takes up 34 prims when it is in use on your land. Both the color and letters can be changed and adjusted by the texture controls. Again, try it out for yourself. It is user friendly and Dembe is positive you will find it a necessary tool for your SL classroom as well.

Regards till my next blog,
Dembe

Second Life Inworld Publications

Updated March 20, 2007

Second Life Inworld Publications are becoming very popular. Dembe is seeing more and more over the past few weeks on her adventures and searches for educational items and uses for SL. Below is a list of some of the major publications for SL:

The SLED Picayune http://www.sledpicayune.com - Educational Topics in SL - To contribute a news item, event, article or classified ad, or to get a kiosk placed at your location, email: sledpicayune@gmail.com
SL-Newspaper - Pick up a copy at http://slurl.com/secondlife/eduisland/169/182/22 right outside of the GWU SL Pioneers Building.
Meteverse Messenger - http://www.metaversemessenger.com/
The Second Life Herald - http://www.secondlifeherald.com/
Avastar - http://www.the-avastar.com/slife/jsp/microsite/pages/index.jsp
Teleport Report -http://www.teleport-report.com
Second Style - http://www.secondstyle.com/
In the Grid - http://www.jasonpettus.com/inthegrid/mag01.html
Second Life Library 2.0 - http://infoisland.org/
Girls Night Out with iVillage - http://www.ivillagegno.com/
SLATE (SL Arts and Entertainment) - http://www.slatenight.com/
Wired Travel Guide for Second Life - http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.10/sloverview.html
The Official Linden Publication - http://secondlife.com/newsletter/

These are a few of the publications that Dembe has come across in SL. Dembe is interested in finding out if anyone has started an Education SL paper or newsletter to update the educational community on happenings and events that have occurred and will occur in SL. If not, it would be a great way to network and get out the educational benefits of SL. Great journalism project for a SL class.

Regards till my next post,
Dembe

Professional Attire in SL; Where Do I Find a Suit?

One thing you do not see a lot on in SL is business clothing. It is also not very easy to find. Yes, there are some high end stores like Blaze. But, 1000L on a suit in SL? Seems a little high for Dembe.

This blog entry is dedicated to locating women's business suits at an economical price. (On a side note, if you are looking to open a business in SL, cheap business attire or just business attire is very hard to find.)

I decided to start my quest for a suit in the search feature of SL. I limited the search to shopping and chose both pg and mature regions to look. I searched the word "suit." Amazing what comes up in a general search using the word "suit." I went to every store listed in SL for having suits. The shops below offered suits for SL at a reasonable price ranging from 100L to 250L. This seems more reasonable that what some other places have been charging.

The first place I came across that had reasonable business clothing was a shop called Opium Everyday. This shop was located on Alpha Centauri http://slurl.comsecondlife/alpha centauri/223/2/27. I purchased a 100L grey suit from this store and a stocking pack for 75L. Both where a great bargain.

Next, I found a place called Adored Clothing located on Alhena http://slurl.com/secondlife/alhena/12/10/26 This store also has a group you can be added to so you could get an IM when new clothing is available. The suits in this store where 100L to 200L. There was a nice selection of colors and styles. On a side note, this store had Halloween costumes next to their suits. Nothing like planning early. I know Valentine's Day was gigantic in SL, can't wait to see what Halloween is like! Below is a picture of Dembe in a suit she purchased from this store.


My favorite pick was IndustriElle - First Impressions on Shepherd http://slurl.com/secondlife/shepherd/223/31/95. Dembe got better service in this SL store than her user does in RL. Sugar Punk, 1/2 owner altered my suit for me on the spot to make sure Dembe had a perfect fit and length suit. There was no extra charge for these alterations.


Suits ranged in price from 100L to 250L. There as also a wonderful selection of styles in this store of business suits and Fatpacks of pants and blouses for business. Needless to say, Dembe has a number of suits from this store. Below is a picture of Dembe in a suit from this store. This store also offers freebies, such as the glasses she is wearing, earrings and necklace.

This store also has a group called First Impressions you can join for store updates, information and specials.


The above three stores are the only three I would recommend at this point in time in SL for quality low cost business attire for women in SL. For men, it looks like your best selection is at Blaze on Glory at http://slurl.com/secondlife/glory/71.2367/117.63.

If you would like to share some locations for excellent business and professional attire at reasonable Linden prices, then please blog back.

Until my next blog,
Dembe

Hair and the Professional Avatar

Free

Free

Free

So much hair and so little time to find it! Plus, most avatars are on a weekly budget and do not want to spend their entire weekly allowance from SL for hair. Well there are a few places to get FREE hair in SL. Yes, FREE hair in SL.

Gurl offers free hair to new avatars that are less than 4 weeks old. It is through a voucher. A notecard must be completed and saved in your inventory that gives the current date, your avatar birthdate, your hair choice and color and your avatars name. The Voucher (notecard) needs to be returned to Six Kennedy ASAP. This is done by opening your inventory. Opening Six Kennedy's profile and then drag and drop the note card into Kennedy's profile. It takes about 24 hours for Six Kennedy to respond. Upon recieving the hair, you will have to open and unpack it.

Calla is another shop that offers free hair and is located at http://slurl.com/secondlife/callatropia/141/149/24 This store offers free new avatar prim hair for men and women. Any age avatar can get this FREE hair. Men have only one style of free hair in four colors at this shop. However, women can get four styles of hair each in blonde, black, brunette, and red. Above, you see Dembe modeling three of the women's hair styles in Blonde.

Happy hair hunting!
Until my next posting,
Dembe

The 1Linden Skin

Do you want great looking, realistic skin like Dalphy Beaumont?


The good news is 1L skin does exist in SL and after reading this blog entry, you will know where to get it as well.

The above skin Dalphy is wearing is a 1Linden skin from Nyte N Day. They have this as a special. Most of their skins like the above cost about 4000L. For an additional 1Linden, they also have a shapes pack. Dalphy has on Shape 1. Nyte N Day is located at http://slurl.com/secondlife/couture isle/52/103/49

Other places to get 1Linden skins are:
Skins and Shapes by Platinum, located at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Heathrow/203/142/21
Cheap Skins by Charlotte Hausdorff, located at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sinuiju/183/101/32

This one is totally free:
Avatar Essentials, located at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Raglan Shire/118/248/22

This one is not actually a skin, it is an illuminator and dembe wears it - looks great and is totally Free! Real SKIN Skin Designs, located at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Pogon/25/44/38
In the picture below, Dembe is wearing the illuminator.



Happy Skin Shopping!

Until my next blog,
Dembe

1st Place to Visit on SL after Creation and Orientation

Okay - you joined SL and you have go through the orientation as seen above, now where do you go.


Many avatars head over to Help Island. It has a few freebies and many excellent tutorials on building, etc.

But, now your avatar needs "stuff". This "stuff" in SL costs Lindens, which is money. Again, there is a real economy in SL.

Dembe and Dalphy both visited http://slurl.com/secondlife/kuula/55/142/28 the New Citizens Plaza. They have a host of FREE stuff at this location. Since this is a must stop, it has been added to the Educator Survival Pack to the right.

At this location you can get for FREE, not 1L, FREE the following items:

Note cards on:

• How to alter appearance.
• How to open objects
• How to script and build
• How to fly
• etc.

Boxes full of Free:

• Avatars - Metal Dragon, Ghost, etc
• Costumes - Wonder Woman, Zena Warrior Princess, Prince, Princess, etc.
• Ethnic Avatars
• Skins - Male and Female
  
• Clothing - Male and Female
  
• Gadgets
• Hair
  
• Houses
• Cars
• etc.

This a must visit stop for the new Avatar and SL user. I would have to give this local a 4 star because of it ease of use and helpfulness in tutorials.

Regards,

Dembe

Meet Dalphy Beaumont

Above, meet Dalphy Beaumont, she is Dembe's alt. Dalphy is a Purple Fairy that will be working on Hudson Islands in the Teen Grid. She is being created now, and so are the islands. When Dalphy is transfered over, she will have undergone FBI clearance of her user, Linden Clearance of her user, and when she reaches Hudson Islands, she will be there forever and never able to return to the Adult SL grid.

She needs to pack now and take everything with her on this journey. If you have any educational items you would like to donate to Dalphy for her trip or recommendations for things she should take - she would greatly appreciate your suggestions.

Packing for this is like packing for being placed on a desert island for the rest of your life. The only thing you will have for your islands is what you bring in your inventory to the teen grid and what you can create yourself on Hudson Islands. The Hudson Islands will be isolated. Student avatars and the teachers avatars will never be able to leave. Visitors will never be allowed to enter without clearance and permission. However, these visitor avatars must be educators and stay forever as well.

In the above picture of Dalphy, and I must say the only Dalphy on SL - is wearing a 1L body, a 1L skin and 100L hair. The clothing was also 1L. The cost of the total look is 103L. The remainder of her money was spent on educational supplies. Dalphy also recieved a free hair pack from a hair creator that matches her look.

Over the next week, Dalphy and Dembe will be sharing their avatar beauty secrets for economical choices and looking great! So watch for these SLUrls.

Until then,
Dembe

Evolution of Dembe's New Business Look

Okay, I know most of you remember what the old Dembe looked like.

See what I mean about the SL clothing, too much skin. She needed better skin, especially if she was going to expose that much, primy hair, business clothing, and an entrance that included particle emitters or something memorable.

We started by giving her a basic makeover.


You see Dembe with Victoria above. She now has primy hair and make-up, but not very professional - more mod. But this is a start and it was FREE. This hair was given to me by Firefly. Yes given, it is copy, transferable hair. There is such a thing is SL. I have it in Blonde, Strawberry Blonde, and Brunette. Read my hair posting on tips for saving money with hair from Firefly.

My avatar is on a very tight budget at this point in time. In needed to make a decision, and fast, on if Dembe is going to upgrade to a premium account in SL. It was on Thursday, March 8th, Dembe upgraded to a Premium account. She made her big decision based on the following reasons:

• For one year, paid up front it was $72.00 (dollars). That was a savings of $36.00 paying monthly.
• When Dembe signed up, she got a L1,000 (lindens) to help her get my look and buy educator needed materials.
• She could own up to 512 meters (square meters) of land with no fees. This would allow her to play and experiment with land settings before going into the classroom. It would also give her a private place to practice her presentations and hold small meetings and office hours.
• A L300 (Linden) weekly allowance. No more picking off of trees that allowed avatars over 30 days old. :-)
• The ability to create an alternate avatar for a one time fee of $9.95 (Dollars). This alt came with L250 (Lindens), but I had a promo code to use and that might have been why. So, I created a sister for Dembe, her name is Dalphy Beaumont. You will be meeting her in future blog postings waiting in draft mode to be posted.

Okay - so these where Dembe's main reasons to go premium and made this decision after three months of vassaling with the topic.

Next, you see in the picture above, Victoria and I looking for skins. Well, skins like Victoria's cost about L4000 to L5000 (Lindens). That equals about $15.00 to $19.00 dollars a skin. Now that is a lot of Lindens and Dollars for me. So, I chose to make my own skin. (Yes, Cheap, Clearance, and Frugal are my middle names.) The amount of time it took me to figure it out, it would have probably been easier and cheaper to pay the Lindens. :-) Below is a picture of my newly created skin on Dembe.


Next, I needed to get hair. Well, most hair is about 250L to 500L depending on where you go. Firefly showed me how to get hair FREE for my NEW alt avatar and only 100L for Dembe. Does that woman no how to shop or what! Above is my new 100L hair. But I still have not got the business look I am looking for. We need to continue the quest.

Finally, the 1L (Yes, one Linden Skin) Dalphy will debut this look in a later blog and you decide for yourself if it is worth it. Dembe is keeping her skin after all the time that was spent on it!

Finally, Dembe needed business clothing for presentations and educational events. When I started looking at suits for women, which are hard to find, they ranged from 500L to about 1,500L. This translates into about $2 to $6 dollars in cost. This was getting to be a lot of moo la. So, I began my quest to find a designer that offered cheaper suits for women. Very hard to find in SL. On a side note, if you are looking for an area to get into in SL and clothing designs, a good business attire designer is in desperate need. :-)


Okay, we are almost there, above you see Dembe in a 100L suit, 1L Gucci bling purse, and 100L up-do hair called Catherine. Can Dembe make a 300L a week stipend last or what. :-) Oh, the hot pink star sun glasses where FREE from the Northern Illinois University campus - the Gilden Campus. They had them in the free student clothing boxes. They came in pink and blue.

I will be posting on the blog a few great economical places to buy women's suits that offer great service as well - even alterations on your avatars clothing free! Dembe gets better service for her suits in SL than I do in RL. Below is the complete professional and new Dembe.


The above suit is called Feral. It was 200L for the suit, blouse, shoes, and business walk. If you like Dembe's Suits, check out Dembe's section of suggestions and recommendations for buying economical business attire. Dembe spent hours/days of research in this area and is happy and willing to share her information and SLurls with all that inquire for men and women's clothing.

Above is the complete Dembe. Now all she needs is an entrance. It is recommended that presenters in SL use a grand entrance and exit. Should Dembe use an animation, like landing with a cape and a twirl, particle emitters, or poofer shoes. Plus, how will she exit? These are important details and very big decisions.


Dembe decided to enter in a storm of bubbles when she teleports in. As, you can see in the picture above she is surrounded by a storm of bubbles as she floats in - these bubbles quickly disappear to her professional business presence. She decided on the bubbles since they work in all locations. The particle emitters and poof shoes go off on entrance and exit (particle emitters can also be accelerated by "/channel number and poof" when desired), but in some locations do not work. The bubbles always work. Her exit is just as grand, if she flys away she has an animation that does a twirl and lifts off in a graceful ballet jump. If she TP's she leaves with her bubbles. If she has to walk, so goes to her BMW and drives off. :-)

Regards till my next posting,

Dembe

The Business Look in Second Life

The business look is not that easy to achieve in SL. Most women's clothing tends to be, well lets just say not very business like. Or to put milder, I was not trained for that profession. lol Most campuses do not want a lot os skin exposed, especially the public schools on the teen grid.

I was insearch of a business look for Dembe and needed to find one quick. My first presentation on SL in a school district is March 16th and I entitled it Future Look in Education. I spent the last week searching through fashion in SL, which I must say is very big. Sorry for the lack of posting, I was preoccupied with learning fashion. In RL, my favorite brand is Clearance. So, I had a lot of catching up to do in SL. I decided to dedicate my next few postings on the Business/Educator look in Second Life with out spending a fortune.

In addition, I will be posting a new Educator Survival Pack. Places to go get items needed for the SL virtual classroom. And clothing for the business/professional avatar. Each posting will be dedicated to a specific must have item. This will make it easy to reference and go back to.

Finally, I will be doing a series of crash courses on my blog on how to post power points and stream video into SL. This is as a result of specific requests for some of my readers emails. I must say I am happy to help and appreciate the input.

I look forward to this adventure with you and giving you the professional look you always deserved in SL. :-)

Regards,
Dembe

Acronyms used in SL

Updated on March 23, 2007.

Thank you Desideria and Clare (SL Name) - I added your acronyms.

2l – Second Life

AFK - Away from Keyboard

akiRLa - also known in Real Life as

akiSLa - also known in Second Life as

AO - Animation Override

brb - be right back

HUD - heads-up display

kiRLa - known in Real Life as

kiSLa - known in Second Life as

KK - Okay Cool (slang is K'Kool)

LL - Linden Labs

LM - Landmark

Mud - multi-user dimensions

MMORPG - Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game

np - no problem

nvm - never mind

OMG! - Oh my God!

rotfl - rolling on the floor laughing

rotflmao - rolling on the floor laughing my ass off

SL - second life

SLNN – Second Life News Network

TP - Teleport

ty - thank you

Please feel free to add to this list if you know of any SL acronyms you would like to add. I will gladly add them.

Regards,
Dembe

Machinima

Machinima a basically new term to me and is not restricted to SL. I found out about this about one month ago. The concept to me is fascinating. According to Webopedia, "Machinima is a form of filmmaking that uses computer game technology to shoot films in the virtual reality using a game engine." I decided to look further into this topic. I found out the following:

• It can be studied in college as a major.
• There are Machinima Film Festivals: http://festival.machinima.org/
• There is an official organization: http://www.machinima.org/
• A Machinima Premiere Page: http://www.mprem.com/
• Eric Linden's Tips on making Machinima: http://secondlife.com/showcase/machinima.php
• Consider how companies and education and organizations can use machinima (Can cut a lot of costs): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=synxFmQJ_0A
• Machinima Librarians Blog: http://machinimalibrarians.blogspot.com/
  

I found out today that in May of 2007 a SL show will debut called Divas. This Machinima show will star Phaylen Fairchild and Kattie Haight. For a preview of the show go to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0Gfq5Np_fI The video at YouTube is new and was posted by Phaylen. According to fashion World of SL, it premiered March 6th at Mysticakal Hair Designs. I think this is going to be a must see, eventhought it looks like the content will not be educational.

This video file can easily be converted to an apropiate media format for you to use at http://vixy.net/

Did you know you can record in SL? :-)

Regards till my next blog
Dembe

Pathfinders Inworld Office and Linden Village

As educators, we need to know about Pathfinder and where we can locate him.


http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ambleside/57/107/27
Above is Pathfinders inworld office location.

or

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ambleside/56/98/27

His email: pathfinder@lindenlab.com

You can find Pathfinders office hours (And some other Lindens) at http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=mvktahmo6mjpvpkkkdnmabmghg%40group.calendar.google.com

or

http://tinyurl.com/2affsa

FYI: Pathfinder is very hard to get in touch with.

Webistes about Pathfinder:
http://zero.hastypastry.net/pathfinder/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pathfinderlinden/
http://www.flickr.com/people/pathfinderlinden/
http://www.slprofiles.com/slprofiles.asp?id=3166
http://profiles.slbuzz.com/pathfinder-linden
http://del.icio.us/secondlife
http://www.glsconference.org/2006/pop/lindenp.htm

Pathfinders role is to help the real life educator community and run the Campus:Second Life program.

"One place you can often find Lindens these days is an area on the mainland called the "Linden Village". Pathfinder Linden originally started the Village because he felt it was important for Lindens to be seen and noticed, giving Residents an opportunity to learn more about Lindens by exploring thier homes. The Village also gives Lindens a chance to own land next to each other, thereby creating meetings spaces where they can interact with Residents. Additionally, the Village is intentionally located immediately around the Waterhead Welcome Area which encourages exploration by new Residents."

Linden Village Photostream
See snapshots of the diverse and colorful Linden Village! Any Resident who's taken photos is welcome to contribute too. http://www.flickr.com/groups/lindenvillage/


Some Important Linden Village Locations

Linden Village Main Landing Point
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kirkby/177/206/44

Balloon Tour
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ambleside/46/40/33

Linden Office Building
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kirkby/163/234/53

Real Life Education in Second Life - Meeting Space
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Waterhead/164/10/39

Linden Homes and Offices found in Linden Village(63 Lindens)
Amber Linden
Aura Linden
Babbage Linden
Beast Linden
beez Linden
Betsy Linden
Blue Linden
Brent Linden
Bub Linden
Callum Linden
Chiyo Linden
Claudia Linden
Cube Linden
Cyn Linden
Dan Linden
Doug Linden
Data Linden
Don Linden
Dee Linden
Dustin Linden
Eric Linden
Flashpoint Linden
Fritz Linden
Frontier Linden
George Linden
Gulliver Linden
Harmony Linden
Hermia Linden
Ian Linden
Jack Linden
Jean Linden
Jeff Linden
Jeska Linden
Jesse Linden - office hours posted onsite
Jill Linden
Joe Linden
Jose Linden
Karen Linden
Kelly Linden
Kona Linden
Lawrence Linden
Liana Linden
Lizzie Linden
Logan Linden
Lucy Linden
Matthew Linden
Mia Linden
MichaelFrancis Linden
Milo Linden
Neo Linden
Nora Linden
Pathfinder Linden - office hours posted onsite
Philip Linden
Red Linden
Rika Linden
Rob Linden - office hours posted onsite
Robin Linden - office hours posted onsite
Teeple Linden
Tess Linden
Torley Linden - office hours posted onsite
Vektor Linden
Walker Linden
Zero Linden

Must Know Second Life Vocabulary

Updated 3/5/07

Thanks you for the great comments. I added some information because of contriibutions made by Kevin Jarrett aka KJ Hax and Brok Kalmath. They had some great vocabulary suggestions.

As I have traveled around Second Life, I have noticed my vocabulary has been increasing. There are terms and phrases that seem to turn my head every once in a while. Any new individual to Second Life, especially those teaching or students entereing, would want to become familiar with these terms so they can understand what they mean. The following is a basic small list of vocabulary used in virtual worlds:

Alt – Refers to a resident’s other avatars. One person may own multiple avatars.

Animation Override - an enhancement to your avatar that overrides a basic function, like walking, to make it more lifelike.

*Avatar - 1) The digital representation of your virtual self in Second Life. Or, in plain English, the character in Second Life that's you; 2) Other people's characters. Generally, any other thing with a name above it (though there are very convincing cardboard cutouts in Second Life); 3) A "costume" or outfit; a full set of avatar body parts, clothing, and/or attachments that provides a specific look.

*Calling card - An inventory item you can trade with other residents. Calling cards serve as a contact list of sorts.

*Chat channel - One of over a billion pseudo-"frequencies" that objects and avatars can chat on. Avatars normally speak on channel 0, and can only hear chat on channel 0. Objects can chat and listen on any channel. For more information on chat channels go to http://secondlife.com/knowledgebase/article.php?id=116

*Derez - To remove (derez) an object from a sim within Second Life. This generally is done through deleting the object or taking the object into inventory.

Freebie - these are items is SL that are free. Some freebies are only for individuals that are in SL 30 days or less. This can be vouchers for hair from GUrl or money trees.

*Grid - The world of Second Life is sometime referred to as a "grid" or "the grid". One grid is what other virtual worlds may call one world or one "shard". All visible islands and regions on a map are included in the term "grid".

Griefer – People who go around in Second Life and grief other avatars. It might be caging, shooting, etc. that is unexpected and not asked for; a form of terrorist attack on your avatar. Does not do harm and is more of a nuisance.

*Infohub - A Linden-owned location inworld. Infohubs used to be telehub centers for Second Life.

*Inworld - 1) Anything that takes place within the virtual environment of Second Life. 2) The state of being logged into Second Life.

*L$ - A Linden dollar (L$, "LindenBucks", or "Lindens") is the inworld Virtual Currency used in Second Life. Most transactions you make inworld with other residents will be made in L$.

*Lag, Laggy - 1) The delay inherent to a connection between two computers on the Internet, especially an unusually long delay between a client and a server. 2) A delay or interruption in a network or Internet connection caused by slow response times and/or lost or missing data. 3) (technically incorrect but popular usage) Slow or jerky performace in a 3D application caused by an overworked processor, memory bandwidth, video card, or hard drive. 4) (technically vague popular usage) Any situation where part of the Second Life experience is not performing as desired. http://secondlife.com/knowledgebase/article.php?id=273

Machinima - Machine Animation or Machine Cinema, the art of creating movie-quality animations and other cool effects in SL.

*Mature - Second Life uses a rating system for sims to let the user know what type of content/behavior to expect in that area. Mature or (M) regions may include (among other things) profanity, nudity, and sexual content. The Second Life Community Standards still apply in these areas, so discretion is still recommended.

*Mouselook – Mouselook is the first-person camera view in SL, as seen from the eyes of the avatar. When in this mode the mouse is used to move the camera around, hence the name. Mouselook is often used for weapons, vehicles, and grabbing objects.

Mule - the use of an avatar for carrying inventory items not used a lot by the main avatar. A Mule avatar is also used in many instanced to experiment with looks HUDs, skins, shapes, etc.

*Newbie - (popular usage) A newcomer to Second Life; a resident who has joined for a relatively short period of time and/or is not familiar or comfortable with Second Life's nuances. Also spelled 'noob' or 'n00b'.

*Notecard - A small text file within Second Life. You can embed pictures, landmarks, and even objects inside notecards.

*Primitive/Prim - The basic building block of Second Life, also called a 'prim'. All in-world objects are constructed from primitives. A prim is a basic shape (such as a box, sphere, cylinder, etc.) that can be manipulated, stretched, cut, twisted, hollowed, and otherwise mangled into various forms. A builder can link a collection of prims together to form one cohesive object. The math works out to 15,000 prims for each 65,536 m2. So for example, a 512 m2 parcel has 117 prims, a 4096 m2 parcel has 937.

*Region - A named area within Second Life, also commonly referred to as a simulator or a sim. Second Life is divided into square regions, each 256m on a side and assigned a name. The regions are aligned and assembled so that the borders between them are, for all intents and purposes, seamless. You can stand a one side of a region border, with your friend on the other. Despite the fact that the two of you are in different regions, you can chat freely, throw a baseball across, even drive a car back and forth, without interruption. Current limit to a region is of 65536 m2 (256m x 256m)

*Rez - (commonly attributed to the movie 'Tron') 1) To bring an object into 3d-space within Second Life. This is usually done by dragging the object from inventory into the world. 2) To create a new primitive in Second Life through the building tools.

Sim – Sims in Second Life are characterized by the area. Generally, 25 -30 active avatars can be in a sim before it lags or slows down. Avatars that are observing or watching can be between 50 and 75 in a sim before it lags. There may be multiple sims in a region.

SLURL - a link you can click on in a web browser that takes you to a particular place in SL. A Slurl is made up by the following format: http://slurl.com/secondlife/region/xcoordinate/ycoordinate/zcoordinate Anyone can make an Slurl with this formula.

*Telehub - (deprecated) A centralized teleport location in Second Life. When using a telehub in Second Life, you arrived at the closest telehub to your intended location. You could then fly to your destination from there. Telehubs are no longer in Second Life; you can teleport directly to your destination.

*Teleport - To instantly travel to a location (as opposed to manually walking or flying there). Residents can teleport via the map, with landmarks, or through invitations given by other residents.

* Actual definition from http://secondlife.com/knowledgebase/index.php?action=glossary

As new vocabulary appears in Second Life, I will update this page. Please feel free to comment to add other vocabular or email me at dembewellman@hotmail.com to add vocabulary you feel is a must for SL classrooms.

Regards,
Dembe

"Virtual Worlds Have Real Popularity"

Today on MSNBC, NBC's Keith Miller interviewed author and "second lifer" Tim Guest. Below is the video link to this video segment, "Virtual Worlds Have Real Popularity."

http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=fafa9b1f-0c5b-4478-860c-38e09302d455&f=05&fg=email

To view this video you need FlashMacromedia and Microsoft Internet Explore 6.0.

FYI, I started a video resources for sl section and teacher tools for sl section and the bottom of this main page.

Regards,
Dembe

Make Phone Calls Home from SL: Vivox Million Minutes Promotion

http://www.secondlifeinsider.com/2006/09/22/a-million-free-minutes-from-vivox/

Vivox Million Minutes Promotion
http://www.vivox.com/millionmins.html


Great opportunity for schools and organizations land. Below is the company's note card on how to get a phone booth on your land.



They are starting to pop up all over SL. For a current list of phone booth locations in SL go to : http://www.vivox.com/millionminsdir.html

"Vivox Million Minutes Promotion and obtaining a phone booth and microphone for your Second Life property.

Because availability is limited, please provide the following information for consideration:

1. Brief organization description
2. Brief description of your presence/activity in Second Life
3. Corporate logo in jpeg format for promotion on event home page
4. SLURL for resident reference/links
5. SL avatar name

Please email the above details to the Vivox team at millmins@vivox.com.

Someone will contact you in-world to provide you with the object and directions of install and use within 24 hours.


Thank you for your interest!
The Vivox Team"

So Second Life is Just Not Enough Virtual World for You?

"So many worlds, so little time. Not sure where to start?" Check out http://www.virtualworldsreview.com/info/categories.shtml This site puts them all in categories for you with direct links to each to sign up.

Then there is always the Virtual Worlds Conferene 2007 in NYC on March 28th and 29th. http://www.virtualworlds2007.com/

The conference costs a mere $995.00, how much would that be in Lindens?

Until my next blog,
Dembe

Present in SL using Voice through Skype and Second Talk Public 4.0

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Maui/234/37/24

IMPORTANT: This SecondTalk headset is a public beta version. This means there may be a few bugs to work out. No technical support is available. The company warns that this item is currently a use it at your own risk. Comments are welcome on the company blog at www.secondtalk.com.

By wearing this device in SL, you'll be able to have voice chats with other SecondTalk wearers through Skype, the free Voice over IP service (http://www.skype.com). SL residents can go to http://slurl.com/secondlife/Maui/234/37/24 to obtain a copy of Second Talk Public 4.0. It takes about 30 seconds to arrive to you avatar. You must accept. Plus, you will get the following note card with instructions:

WHAT YOU NEED TO USE SECOND TALK

To get the most out of your SecondTalk headset, you'll need the following things in Real Life:

1) A Skype account. You can get one for free by going to http://www.skype.com.

2) A microphone headset. If your laptop has a built-in microphone, you'll still want to wear headphones so other people don't hear an echo of your voice

GETTING STARTED

1) First, make sure you have Skype activated and that you're logged in. **Second Talk will not work without Skype!**

2) First, you'll need to set your Skype ID. After the Second Talk headset appears in your inventory, right-click it, and choose "Wear." The headset will appear on your right ear, but you can choose to attach it anywhere on your body.

3) Type "/1 setid|YourSkypeID" where YourSkypeID is your actual Skype ID.

4) That's it! The headset will start, and the function menu will appear. Time to start talking.

HOW TO TALK WITH SOMEONE

First, make sure your headset is ON. Press the ON button on the menu, or say "/1 on". The status light on your headset will turn green.

When you see another avatar wearing a headset and you'd like to talk with them, press the SCAN button on the menu, or say "/1 scan". If there's only one headset nearby, you'll see a dialog box asking if you'd like to chat right now. If you would, press "Talk Now", and the chat URL will load up. Go to the URL, and your Skype chat will begin.

If there are multiple users nearby, you'll see a list of buttons, each with the name of someone who's available for voice chat. Click on the buttons to create a call queue; you can select up to nine other people to talk with. Everyone in your queue will have an asterisk (*) added to the beginning of their name. If you want to remove someone, simply click on the name button. Once you're ready to talk, click the GO button, and the chat URL will load up.

VOICE COMMANDS

/1 reset: Reset the entire headset.

/1 setid|YourSkypeID: Sets the headset's Skype ID to YourSkypeID.

/1 on: Turn on your headset and make yourself available for voice chat.

/1 off: Turn off your headset and make yourself unavailable for voice chat.

/1 scan: Look for available Second Talk users in the area.

/1 talk: Initiate a voice chat with the Second Talk users your headset has found.

/1 menu: Display the main menu.

/1 help: Display the list of voice commands.

MENU COMMANDS

ON: Turn on your headset and make yourself available for voice chat.

OFF: Turn off your headset and make yourself unavailable for voice chat.

SCAN: Look for available Second Talk users in the area.

TALK: Initiate a voice chat with the Second Talk users your headset has found.

FAQ

Q: What do I need to use Second Talk?

A: 1) A Skype account. You can get one free at http://www.skype.com.

2) A microphone headset. Even your laptop has a built-in microphone, you’ll still want to wear headphones so other people don’t hear echoes.

Q: I’m hearing echoes on my conversations.

A: See above. You just need some cheap headphones. Otherwise, your speakers will feed back to your microphone, and, presto, echoes!

Q: How does this thing work?

A: By using LSL to scan for other users, place them in a potential chat queue, and using an external server with some code on it to facilitate a Skype call.

Q: Why’s it asking me to load a web page?

A: That’s how we talk to the external server.

Q: Is there any way to get around loading the web page?

A: Sorry, no. This is a limitation of both SL and Skype. We’re working on some new ideas that offer better integration.

Q: So can you listen in on my calls?

A: No, we’re just connecting you via Skype. Your connection is as secure as any other Skype call.

Q: Is this good enough to use for business conversations?

A: If you’re comfortable with using Skype to do business, you bet.

Please join the Second Talk group for updates and information!

Regards till my next blog,

Dembe