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