Carl Linnaeus is a personal hero of mine (and probably every other biologist in the world). He's responsible for developing the structures of taxonomy in biology, the thing that makes humans Homo sapiens sapiens, and the MRSA a multi-drug resistant strain of Staphylococcus aureus. The Swedish Embassy in SL is expanding its presence and activities with a permanent exhibition about this famous citizen, which will be inaugurated with an event on Friday (November 2nd) with a couple of competitions (best 18th Century costume, build a plant) with cash prizes as well as information books in a variety of languages. Read more about it on their website.
Sloog, you may remember, is a HUD that lets you tag places and people and search for them both inworld and via the web. MERLOT is a tool for indexing, and a database of, online learning and educational materials. SaLamander is a system to tie them together, led by Wainbrave Bernal, aka Jonathon Richter of the University of Oregon, in partnership with Sloog.org and yours truly.
What does it all mean? Well, anyone is welcome to go and pick up a Salamander HUD from the Centre for Advanced Technology in Education and when you find somewhere educational in SL, click the button, follow the instructions and register the site. The UOregon people will sift feeds and transfer them over to the wiki, and we will gradually acquire a register of folksonomy tags for education in SL.
Abraham Lincoln that is. The Alliance Libraries have secured funding for a "Land of Lincoln" immersive sim that will recreate Lincoln's birthplace, his Springfield house (please resist comments about Bart!) and will also look at his White House time.
This new area will run on a similar basis the Renaissance Island which looks at Tudor England, and is inhabited by volunteers who largely dress and talk in appropriate period style, as well as having the period setting. Land of Lincoln is still at the planning stage, if you would like to be involved please join the google group for discussion.
Machinima Guru, my Teen Grid alter ego, stopped by the College Fair on Sunday. It brought me back to the days when I had to wander around the smelly gym of my rival high school picking up pamphlets as I went along. Technology sure has come far! Storm Basiat, the dedicated teen manager for Eye4You, was waiting to send me a port as soon as I logged in.
When I arrived, I was greeted by two of the most adorable astronauts I've ever seen! I was able to listen to a few speeches before I had to log off. One of them, as presented by Daniel Voyager, was for TSL Greeters. When asked for comment, attendee Reallife Orca, of Digital Refinery, noted that "It was interesting to see all of the colleges who showed up, I was just a bit let down that no trade schools came out."
I grabbed pictures of everything I saw, but was really dismayed to find that I was unable to donate to the TG College Fund for some reason. If you would like to help, you can send your donations to Bluewings Hayek on the Main Grid. For a full write-up of the Fair from Storm, check out SLNN.
Literature Alive! (disclosure: I am an owner of this group and have been involved in these developments) is running two events over the next few days.
On Saturday at 8am SL Time students from De Sales University will be judged on their material for the "Literature of the Progressive Era" display in a funfair on land contributed by Finger Lakes Community College. From tomorrow you can judge which of the elements you find meets the criteria best - you are not judging the build (most of it is bought from in-world or created by people other than the students), but the content in terms of how well it teaches you about the era in question - a era of significant social change. You have the chance to vote for the best group, who will win a RL cash prize and leave feedback for the groups via an anonymous web-form.
Literature Alive! has also converted the British Gothic Literature classroom into a haunted house, with some help (and extra prims for a while) from out hostess, the Alliance Library, on Eduisland 3. As well as giving you the chance to learn more about gothic literature and the British authors, there is a hidden red cauldron. Find this to win a small L$ prize. There are other games and activites too, and no commercial activity, just fun for Halloween.
You may remember Harvard Law School's extrusion into Second Life, via the Harvard Extension Program, particularly the Evidence at Large subject on trial advocacy and evidence that took place in January this year, exploring the Bragg vs Linden Lab case. It was certainly one of the more interesting and fascinating things I've seen and done in Second Life so far.
Tomorrow (Wednesday), at 4PM SLT (US Pacific), there will be a second mock trial. This one will be exploring the case/charges against Paul Addis - the man who allegedly set fire to the Burning Man ahead of time. Second Life users are invited to attend and observe, or to serve on the jury. If you're interested, get on down to Harvard's Berkman Island with a little time to spare.
Incidentally, if you haven't looked at this course (lectures and office hours are open to at-large participants - no fees and no enrollment) you really should take a good look at what they've got going on. It really is a treat.
Mashup Islander, or Christopher Dodds in real life, unveils connections between literature and real-time 3D art through his virtual moiré sculptures. His exhibit opened recently among a sea of enthusiastic visitors who immediately began exploring the interactive pieces. You may experience the work yourself on Info Island until November 15th, 2007.
Many thanks to Daruma Picnic, Elizabeth Rookwood, and Rookie Voyager for showing me around!
It looks like, with some stupid exceptions aside, we're moving more and more into the realms of good reporting about SL, where journalists actually talk to people. Unlike many of these reports, which also highlights the warts (and lets face it, there are warts in the SL experience for all of us), the Washington Post is carrying a positive story about how people are finding Second Life is helping them cope with their illnesses, and some of the details about how the health care institutions are catching on to the idea too.
The International Spaceflight Museum (ISM), a non-profit, volunteer-run educational facility in the virtual realm of Second Life, takes its exhibit sponsorship auctions to eBay to attract the attention of more real-world bidders. The sponsorships for full-scale models of two lunar vehicles are up for auction -- the "Apollo Lunar Module" (built by Lora Chadbourne) and the unflown Russian "Lunniy Korabl" (built by Helori Pascal). The auctions will run from October 1 to October 21, and sponsorships will begin on November 1, 2007 and end on January 31, 2008. Winning sponsors will have their names prominently displayed on the exhibit's display signage. They may also elect to have a logo displayed for an additional fee.
Kat Lemieux (SL name, Katherine W. Prawl in real life) is co-founder of the museum and CEO of the nonprofit ISM Corporation. She said, "The exhibit sponsorship auctions allow us to give individuals as well as organizations the opportunity to support the museum, and get some recognition for their contributions at the same time. We are very interested in seeing whether eBay auctions are a viable approach, since this might permit us to reach a much larger donor pool than only holding silent auctions within Second Life."
"I'm curious to see how this sponsorship auction turns out," Troy McLuhan (Troy McConaghy in real life), Vice President of the ISM, added. "Like many things we've done at the museum, it's an experiment."
The museum is the principal activity of the ISM Corporation, a non-profit organization incorporated in the state of Kansas, USA. The ISM hopes to raise enough money to cover the monthly usage fees owed to Linden Labs for the maintenance of virtual land, and contribute to the corporation's operating costs.
Although I'm sure there are already muslims in SL, there hasn't been that I'm aware of, a purely Islamic sim before. Now we have a microcontinent of 2 sims officially opening at 12:30 today in Al Andalus Alhambra and it's neighbour Al Andalus Generallife.
Now, I have to say I'm a huge fan of Islamic art and architecture, so a quick sneak preview, purely in the interests of reporting of course, was inevitable. There are a few places where there is building work still going on, but it looks pretty spectacular already.
This build, perhaps unusually, is also reported on Virtually Blind and Your 2nd Place. As you might guess, this isn't because of the build directly, but the Al-Andalus Caliphate is going to run as a private government (shades of the Confederation of Democratic Sims for example), but run under Sharia Law.
Interestingly, when you arrive there is no explanation of what this means - and as it is a mature sim is it alright for me to turn up naked? - but it will be interesting to see how this develops. There is a blog available if you'd like to follow them too.
It seems the love affair of the media, however 'interesting' the research, continues apace.
It also appears that, with the exception of those that hate SL we're moving past the attacks into more or less balanced pieces, and, in some of the mainstream media away from sex in SL as the core of the story at long last.
The NY Times is carrying another article. This one is making SL appear to be horribly bourgeois and all about keeping up with the Joneses, clothes, cars, sex beds and all. It's slightly misleading - in fact if I were a furry I might be downright insulted by "But the largest slice of the population follows the crowd, and the crowd is not dressing up as dragons." Even if I had to acknowledge the truth of it.
Finally, Education World carries a potted but interesting and useful guide to some good education spots in Second Life - along with a good piece of general advice: "these sites admittedly stress the 'wow' factor of a 3-D virtual environment. As Sean suggests, once you are hooked, you can find the more practical, but less dramatic, places."
More like these please in the mainstream media - certainly steps in the right direction.
You may not have heard about HealthInfo Island. It is, as you might guess, an island dedicated to providing health information, regarding health, wellness, communities, support and the like. On Sunday they will officially be opening their Accessibility Center between 4pm and 6pm (9th September).
The Accessibility Center provides continuing education and awareness about disabilities to the residents of and visitors to SL. The information available at the Center includes material about specific types of disabilities, accessibility in electronic games and virtual worlds, as well as assistive technology in the real world.
Displays at the Accessibility Center currently focus on mobility, vision, hearing and learning impairments. In-world resources for people with disabilities are also highlighted. Several sitting areas provide a pleasing place to sit for frank discussions on disabilities.
Speaking as someone with a hearing disability, and who works with people with learning difficulties and disabilities (the language used in the UK is a little different to the US), I spent a very happy hour looking around. Even if you aren't directly affected, it is well worth a look.
Sunbelt Software (a data and network security firm that handles everything from the end-user to the enterprise) has an island in Second Life. You may not have heard a ton about them, other than seeing a few folks wandering around with the Sunbelter last name, courtesy of their registration/orientation system - but they've been working hard on their Second Life presence for some months, catering primarily to their own community.
We got word today that they're starting up a series of Seminars on Sunbelt Software Island, targeting end users and home-office users. How people try to get at your stuff, and the security tips you need to prevent them, titled "How to keep the bad guys out of your PC". Each seminar series will be four sessions. The first session will be in the Sunbelt Auditorium on August 21 at 6PM SLT (US Pacific) - that's tonight - or repeated on August 25 at 6AM SLT.
Educational? Sure. Environmental? You bet. But the best thing about WWF's Conservation Island is that it's so darned cute!
Teleporting to the island drops you right at the foot of a waterfall, overlooking a valley full of creatures both hidden and in plain sight. When I arrived, someone was there asking if I'd seen an elephant. She said there was supposed to be one, but she couldn't find it yet. Instead, I stopped to look at the ice cream truck being run by Mr. Tangee, an orang-utan. See? Cute. There is a lot of good information to be had by interacting with the residents of Conservation Island, and it's worth your time to go check it out. I'm going back to find that elephant.
Words that will send chills through the heart of a wide range of the brits in SL I'm sure. UCAS is our central university access scheme - it was introduced (called UCCA at the time) I few years before I went to university to limit the letter writing by 18 year olds to universities begging for places. You fill in a form with all the standard details, and pick up to 5 universities to apply to. Hopefully you got an offer, and then in mid-August (today in fact, this year) you get your A-level results (end of school tests at 18+) and if you do well enough, off to university you go, all automatic. If you don't get the grades, clearing is your last hope. Universities that don't fill their spaces look for the best of the students that didn't get snapped up.
So, UCAS are supporting clearing through SL as well - in UK office hours only, fairly reasonably. The island is still open though, and offers advice to parents and students alike. If you're in the situation of you or children needing it, it's worth a visit, if you're curious about British Universities, it's not a bad place to look either. It will be fascinating to see how well it is used!
(Source : http://www.responsesource.com/releases/ (if the link doesn't work, it didn't for me the first time, trim back to the point shown and look for the story that starts UCAS))
Carl Linnaeus is a personal hero of mine (and probably every other biologist in the world). He's responsible for developing the structures of taxonomy in biology, the thing that makes humans Homo sapiens sapiens, and the MRSA a multi-drug resistant strain of Staphylococcus aureus.
Sloog
Abraham Lincoln that is. The Alliance Libraries have secured funding for a "Land of Lincoln" immersive sim that will recreate Lincoln's birthplace, his Springfield house (please resist comments about Bart!) and will also look at his White House time.
Machinima Guru, my Teen Grid alter ego, stopped by the College Fair on Sunday. It brought me back to the days when I had to wander around the smelly gym of my rival high school picking up pamphlets as I went along. Technology sure has come far! Storm Basiat, the dedicated teen manager for Eye4You, was waiting to send me a port as soon as I logged in.
You may remember Harvard Law School's extrusion into Second Life, via the Harvard Extension Program, particularly the Evidence at Large subject on trial advocacy and evidence 
It looks like, with 
Although I'm sure there are already muslims in SL, there hasn't been that I'm aware of, a purely Islamic sim before. Now we have a 
It seems the love affair of the media, however 'interesting' the research, continues apace.
You may not have heard about HealthInfo Island. It is, as you might guess, an island dedicated to providing health information, regarding health, wellness, communities, support and the like. On Sunday they will officially be opening their 
Words that will send chills through the heart of a wide range of the brits in SL I'm sure. UCAS is our central university access scheme - it was introduced (called UCCA at the time) I few years before I went to university to limit the letter writing by 18 year olds to universities begging for places. You fill in a form with all the standard details, and pick up to 5 universities to apply to. Hopefully you got an offer, and then in mid-August (today in fact, this year) you get your A-level results (end of school tests at 18+) and if you do well enough, off to university you go, all automatic. If you don't get the grades, clearing is your last hope. Universities that don't fill their spaces look for the best of the students that didn't get snapped up.
