Second Try at Second Life

So I was convinced by my friend Angela and by a presentation that I went to by Alan Levine ("I'm busy enough...What do I need Second Life for?") that I should maybe give this Second Life thing a second chance.

I found it hysterical that Angela and Alan had both said that they love to dance in SL. Alan describe that just creating your avatar can take hours to prefect if you really want to test it all out. Creating an object like a coffee cup can apparently take just as long. A good real life reference to this is that I couldn't just go into my kitchen and make a mug. It would take me hours as well to get the clay and mold it and fire it, glaze it, etc., etc. So why would we expect it to take minutes in SL.

One of the issues I had mentioned to Angela and in a previous post was my propensity to get motion sick when game screen spin around a lot. After the presentation and the fun notion of dancing when no one is looking or when I don't have that half-a-drink too many in me, made it all sound a little more intriguing. So I've given it another try and I hope to Angela's much happiness I capture myself dancing. I have no idea where I (Sessifet Fittinger) am, but I figured out how to do it.



I'm not completely happy yet with my appearance, but it's getting there, and no it's not the pink hair I'm unhappy about. It's the silly flip-flops.

I am hoping to walk around more and explore some of the more intriguing learning aspects that Second Life has to offer. However, for my first trip of Orientation Island I'm happy to wander and dance.

Second Life - Alan Levine

hetemeel.com - Einstein image with any text on chalk board behind him

Presentation will be in slideshare


Virtual worlds - been around for a while, graphics better, virtual worlds are international, video better, computer better, critical mass of people now doing it more and more, more games, more collaboration

Habbo Hotel - Had 7.5 million active users in 2000, Second Life 500,000 in 2003

Many more now in based on tons of children products.

Federation of American Scientists are trying to learn, track, list features of these various virtual wolds

Gartner Groups - says by 2011 80 percent of active internet users will have a Second Life

Levine's Law
START WITH THE &*#& DEMO

Demo:
his org. built on a 64x64 land, a virtual class room. Query in SL do we build real life items or fantasy. Hold a class on a cloud.

You can walk around for hours in SL and not actual run into anyone.

People spend much time and money setting up their avatars. Important though in that it identifies you and what you like.

250 Lindens = 1 real dollar

Use your Lindens to buy real things. Creates a virtual economy as well. Those that can build well can sell their items.

3d shapes are primitive shapes. Apply graphics to these to make them look like other items. All building tools are within the world. Their are free class to learn how to build and scripts that you can apply to them so they become interactive when you interact with them.

10% of people tend to represent them selves as a different gender. Lots of non-human avatars are created. Appreciate it more by getting in, trying, and learning.

"Get a First Life" - parody on this

FoDS - Field of Dream Syndrome - building something nice doesn't' necessarily mean people will access it. It is more then just creating. You can have rich interactions/learning/social interactions without owning any land/items.

Where do people have the time to interact/do this?
Henry Jenkins - South By SouthWest Conference 2008
- what's wrong with America? Bright articulate people are going in creating this content. What can we do to harness the creative & talent energy that these people have. As we grow into greater knowledge collectives we need to grow and adapt to these more. You don't get a user's manual in SL, you need to go in learn on your own, get feedback from a community. They don't get this opportunity at work, but use work so that they can afford to be creative outside in their private lives.

The Skeptics
The Gamer - the graphics suck (okay, but not like new PS3 kind of games), there's nothing to do (no goals, no tasks, the things that happen in SL are because of what you find around to do)
The Fearful - there are strange things that happen in there, you need a good computer, a good internet connection, you need to learn how to walk, talk, dress. It took you 18 years to really become a person in real life, but want it to happen in 18 seconds online
The Boss - How do I make money? - not the place for every type of training, but maybe for simulations and virtual collaboration.
The Traditionalist - I can do that in a chat room? - need to find out more what their interests are

http://www.nmc.org/horizon - looking at 1-2 year horizon, 3-4 years, 5 an beyond (2006 report) Launched and exploration into SL. http://sl.nmc.org/2006/06/12/seriously-engaging-movie

http://sl.mmc.org/2006/07/04/third-time-charm (NASA - lift over, people in room you are now sharing the experience with, remembering old launches, learning from one another, being in a social environment with other people that share a similar interest)

NMC Campus Observer
- have hosted 4 conferences in the virtual world.

You can hire people to go out to design your islands/areas for your space that you wish to design. NMC Virtual Worlds creates these for others. Professional networks can go through this.

"Second Life for Dummies"

Behind every avatar is a real person. During a survey of educators - there is a real feel of embarrassment. People have real reactions to cartoon images of themselves.

couple thousand to invest in you own island. Some places will rent out their space to you.

It is a cartoon world, but in the same sense we react to what we seen within the SL in a very real way (ie: fear snakes).

There is a voice client within SL with no lag time or delay.

Landmarks act as book marks.

Do you need to go to specific places at specific times to get to educational opportunities out of it?
-currently yes, but is is growing and becoming more and more diverse each month.

Many activities are scheduled and are rescheduled to explore. It is all still relatively "Brand New".

Virtual Hallucinations - designed to give you the sense of what it is like to have a mental illness

How do you find out what events are happening and occuring? - Second Life.com has an events calendar.
in the eduation realm - secondlife educator listserv

ie: Daden.co.uk (shows real planes coming into LAX) NOAA
interactive weather maps
second earth - explore earth
Rumsey map collection

You can set up you islands to limit you can come in to your island. You can not really set them up to leave your islands.

Note - I still got motion sick watching the presentation (the spinning of the screen gets to me).