"Hi, I'm Stroker Serpentine, and I'm a pervert," announced the bald man with devil ears. So began yet another incarnation of "Strokerz Ball" at SLCC 2008.

Infamous adult industry purveyor Stroker Serpentine threw another of his raunchy bachannals at the Second Life Community Convention last night, in a sweaty, dark party room in a Tampa mini-mall last night.  The party for me lacked some of the wild abandon and energy of last year's SLCC party in Chicago.  Maybe it was the placement away from the SLCC hotel site, in the middle of a more family-friendly cluster of restaurants and bars.  Or the general decrease in attendance from past years.

Still there were all the elements of a Stroker party: folks in outlandish, fetishy costumes, lewd dancing, heavy drinking, a raffle of various ridiculous sex toys, and pounding music provided by a host of Second Life DJs.  Not really my cup-of-tea, but really interesting to see Second Life residents in the flesh just cutting loose.

Today we got to see Tuna Oddfellow performing his "virtual magic" at the Second Life Community Convention in the bar of the Marriott.  Trippy, cool stuff!

by Lavinia Carver

Gotham

Just randomly browsing round the metaverse can actually prove useful. I found that out a little while ago, when I stumbled upon Gotham. I had first seen Gotham when it was mid-construction, so it didn’t look too good. It also took forever to build, so I personally thought it would take FOREVER to open.

I am not in any way fascinated by the whole superhero or super-villain thing. I’ve never read a single comic, DC or otherwise. Really the whole appeal was that this was as close to a modern day, realistic RP that I could get without having the mafia, magic, etc. involved.

Arkham Asylum, where many a villain has resided at some point of time

For those of you who have never heard of Gotham, (who hasn’t? Even I knew Batman!) it is the city of residence for one of the world’s most famed superheroes: Batman. Of course, the sim is not restricted to Batman only, it involves the whole DC universe and anything else you can make up! (if it doesn’t suck)

The Iceberg lounge, Gotham’s largest lounge and club

If you’re interested in rping, just search Gothamand it should pop up. Now, DON’T FORGET TO READ THE RULES. The owners and managers of the sim expect you to read them, and give almost no leeway on violations of those rules. If you’re just looking to go and pretend to be Batman for a while, forget it, two people already ARE Batman.

Wayne Manor, residence of Bruce Wayne, billionaire

I was unable to get an interview with any of the managers or owners due to a communication issue that cannot be fixed at the moment, but I can give new players a couple hints. First of all, this sim uses DCS2, so I suggest you find $75L and buy a DCS HUD and the free fist fighter at least. You can’t just go in and pretend to be a superhero or villain, you need to contact one of the managers to start talking about an audition. I have no idea how it works, because I’m happy with my civilian role. You’ll have to start as a civilian, but don’t let that discourage you. You can still go rob the bank or help stop a robbery in progress, just don’t do it until you join the group and have made yourself known to the city rp-wise. I actually would suggest starting as a freelance reporter at the Gotham Gazette or an officer at the Gotham City Police Department. You can just go to those and apply, but there is no audition for those, just fill out the form and follow the directions. That way you can learn the ropes of Gotham and really get in the swing before you shoot for the big stuff.

Overall, Gotham is a great sim, and the people on it are great too. Every one of them will be willing to help you out if you’re in a fix, or at least all of the ones I’ve come across. Lavinia, over and out.

Here's Rafi Santo giving his feedback to Linden Lab during a session today in Tampa at the Second Life Community Convention on how to improve Second Life for educators.  Claudia Linden was there carefully taking notes of everyone's comments during this feedback session.  It's great to see a concrete example of how that the Linden gods are listening to the educator community in Second Life.

Infamous adult industry purveyor Stroker Serpentine threw another of his raunchy balls at the Second Life Community Convention last night, in a sweaty, dark party room in a Tampa mini-mall last night.  The party for me lacked some of the wild abandon and energy of last year's SLCC party in Chicago.  Maybe it was the placement away from the SLCC hotel site, in the middle of a more family-friendly cluster of restaurants and bars.  Or the general decrease in attendance from past years.

Still there were all the elements of a Stroker party: folks in outlandish, fetishy costumes, lewd dancing, heavy drinking, a raffle of various ridiculous sex toys, and pounding music provided by a host of Second Life DJs.  Not really my cup-of-tea, but really interesting to see Second Life residents in the flesh just cutting loose.

Beyers Sellers, Professor at Johnson School at Cornell University and host of the popular "Metanomics" talk show in Second Life, gave a really neat keynote address on “Why Johnny Can’t Rez.” Beyers addressed the difficult issue of how to convince your higher-ups and colleagues to support your virtual education project. It was a nice capstone to the addresses by Intellagirl Tulley and Barry Joseph on education in Second Life.  Beyer’s main message was that to get your administrator to release the pursestrings to fund your virtual world education project, you need to help them fulfill the goals of the institution.

On Sunday 8/31 at PAX 2008 I took time out to review the first expansion for Lord of The Rings MMORPG at the Turbine booth with Adam Mersky from Turbine. One of the first things shown was an in-world map on the back of this egg-like statue. From the front it looks like a planet cracked in half. But when you look at the back the map is there: I love little easter egg type art things like this in games. I learned a number of other interesting things about Mines of Moria: - The Mines of Moria expansion is about 35% of the size of the existing LOTRO world - there will be no wait times between zones in Mines of Moria (although you will still zone out to the original. Turbine was toting this as a “first” for any MMORPG. I haven’t doublechecked if that’s accurate, but I saw some pretty impressive depth in the demo. IE. a character dropping from high up to his death below (actually during the demo the Turbine rep had ‘god’ mode and couldn’t die). 12 expansive areas in total - Lord of the Rings license extended for 9 more years virtually guaranteeing plenty of LOTRO gameplay well into the future - level cap increased by 10 with “hundreds of new quests and monsters” - Turbine plans to release one new expansion each year and has been working on the expansion following Mines of Moria - the level of customization for individual items is being ratcheted up considerably with the ability to forge legendary items. Meaning players can name their own items like say “TD Goodliffe’s Doomsword” and it is unique to the server you are on so nobody else can take your name. These customizable legendary items will level up with players. Customizations include: advancing the item’s virtues, adding runic legacies, modifying titles and forming fables. From the Turbine PAX 2008 press kit - 2 new solo speciality classes: Rune-keeper and Warden. The Rune-keeper can heal in one battle and hurl magic spells in the second while the warden is a medium fighter that uses combo maneuvers to unlock more powerful abilities - There will be 3 different editions sold: Complete Edition. Includes original LOTRO, all content updates since launch (books 9-14) and Lord Of the Rings Online Collector’s Edition. Everything in the Complete Edition plus: - 3 exclusive tokens that can be exchanged for player’s choice of 8 different in-game items - 22×22 premium quality cloth map of the Mines of Moria - Special gold-plated replica of The One Ring complete with chain and pouch - Mines of Moria poster - The Lord of the Rings Online Art and Music Collection with the official Mines of Moria - A full color Collector’s Edition Starter Guide Mines of Moria Digital Expansion. A digital upgrade with the Mines of Moria upgrade only. The press kit doesn’t indicate pricing, but this one will be the cheapest, I’m sure. Mines of Moria game screenshots This looks like a sweet upgrade for both new and existing LOTRO players.

Press Briefing Archives White House Press Briefings archive (tags: usa reference politics news media journalism government whitehouse ) None

The Eiffel Tower in all of its structural and architectural beauty has to be one of the RL constructions most frequently recreated in Second Life. A new one in the recently opened Paris New York sim is the best one, hands down, for its sheer beauty, its faithfulness to detail and its usefulness. I already knew about the Paris 1900 Eiffel (a sim dedicated to the Paris of 1900, with recreations of the Metro and the Moulin Rouge, although technically, the tower straddles the Paris 1900 and Tour Eiffel sims) and the New Paris Eiffel, which will always be my sentimental favorite. It got me wondering how many more Eiffels are lurking throughout Second Life, so I searched and came up with nine. But that includes a Resident named Eiffel Tower, who doesn’t appear to be active anymore. So, here’s your eight-Eiffel tour itinerary (Champagne included!): Paris New York Eiffel Tower 1. Paris New York Built by Maximilian Legend to scale. 324 meters high. It has a reception hall, wedding chapel and honeymoon retreat available for rental, and teleporters to move you around it. Visit the surrounding stores and boutiques, too. New Paris Eiffel 2. New Paris (SLURL puts you in the Crow’s Nest on the tower). Built by MadameG Zagato, 160 meters. A more stylized representation. Beware getting stuck in the hollow central structure. Look for multiple kiss poses on both the first floor and Crow’s Nest level, and get your free Champagne for the rest of the tour. The sim is worth cruising around while you’re there — the Umpire furniture store has great things. 3. Tour Eiffel/Paris 1900 . Use the teleporters to move to the first and second floors. At the top, grab a free parachute and jump off the catwalk. Or, just jump and fly down without it. This is Second Life … we don’t need no stinkin’ parachutes! 4.Yeolmae Eiffel Tower has a Creme a Creperie next to it, apparently a UK-based quick-serve restaurant franchise. The site also has several 2/20 camp spots, which seems kinda chincey for an apparent corporate sim. Make one of the a crepemaker, not just a floor scrubber! 5. Czechoslovakia3 Built by Smrtak Svoboda, it has a Czechoslovakian theme, teleporters to other parts and some curious freebies at the base. 6.Orange Paradise This is the most curious-looking Eiffel of the bunch, as if builder Andreas Negules had stuffed it down in the sand. 7. Skegemog Built by Mark Rebus on top of his shop. SLURL will drop you in the store; walk outside and fly up to see it. Sacre Bleu Eiffel 8. Sacre Bleu Built in 2006 by Delerium Hannibal for his SL/RL partner Emma LaFollette’s birthday. Nearby is an Arc d’Triomphe replica and the couple’s jewelry store. Also a good construction and faithful replica. Uses mini poofing Eiffels to TP between floors.

by Barbie Starr, Second Life Dominatrix

Send your questions to barbiestarr@gmail.com

Slave with online Mistress has gf in RL - should she be told?

Question: I am a slave and I have an online Mistress. She has allowed me to have a girlfriend real life. She is demanding that I tell this girlfriend about Her. I am very nervous and do not want to scare my girlfriend away. What should I do?

Answer: Well first of all the most important part of being a slave and having on-line D/s especially if it's serious is Honesty and Trust. You need to trust that your Mistress is guiding you in the right direction and also, you need to be honest with people around you if your real life permits it. If you do not trust the person's judgment you are with I would think you would have to pick one or the other if you cannot tell your new girlfriend about your secret desires then you may want to either ditch the girlfriend or if you can't trust your Domme, ditch the Domme.

Get to know your Domme before being collared

Question: I am interested in D/s and I would like to start out online. What is the best way to find out upfront if I am dealing with a fake or the real thing in Second Life?

Answer: Well, first of all, Second Life may be a bit overwhelming at first when finding a Domme because there are so many people in Second Life to begin with and it's very hard to tell up front who is a fake and who isn’t. I think the best way to find out if you are dealing with a fake is to look at some key factors. Does this person have a reputation of keeping or losing slaves in Second Life? Have you seen them around the scene long? If you are new I would suggest you hangout in areas that have to do with the BDSM Lifestyle. Try to stick with a variety of places in Second Life that are not so much Role playing simulators but actual hangouts for people who deal with the lifestyle and scene Real-Time. This way you can see what fits your style first. Then when you feel comfortable and have found your nitch I would take the time to socialize in those environments and talk to several Domme there, find out how long they have been in the lifestyle and if this person goes from Second Life to RL and how. Find out about the person you want to submit to. Before you give them the use of a collar around you neck, get to know them a little better. Online always seems to progress faster than Real life so take your time. And a word of caution in any situation do not give out your real life information to someone you just met in Second Life.

Missing online Mistress

Question: My Mistress is seldom online/available should I look elsewhere?

Answer: That would depend on many things. What is the reason she isn’t online? Did she discuss your absence with you? Were you in game only or taking to farther than that? Is she unreachable? I think it would depend on your situation in order to determine if you should look elsewhere. In this case follow your heart, if you are not happy waiting for her and feel her absence is not warranted then yes look elsewhere. If she has a viable excuse, has discussed it with you and has kept her word about things in the past, then I would wait.

Switch spoiling the fantasy

Question: I adore my Mistress but she is a switch and it spoils the fantasy, what should I do?

Answer:

If you are not suited right for your Mistress then you should probably get out of that situation now. If a person is a switch and you are not comfortable with it. Then you need to look elsewhere. Yes, feelings might get hurt, but the longer you wait the worse heartache will occur.

Switching back and forth

Question: I am a male Dom with a slave girl, but I fantasize about being dominated by a female. Is it possible I could really be a sub?

Answer: I am a FemDom; I feel that all males are submissive. But, seriously, if you want to submit to another woman and you have a slave girl you could very well be a switch. My advise; Talk to the slave girl and see how she feels about it before you do anything to spoil what might already be a good relationship. If anything maybe your slave girl is a switch to and you can have a happy life together, switching back and forth.

Proper use of collars in Second Life

Question: If you are new in the scene in Second Life, what is a proper use of collars, what should they mean to me or whom I submit to?

Answer: A collar in Second Life or Real life is basically an agreement between two people. A is the symbol or representation of a bond between two individuals. If you are getting married in real life a couple usually have ideas about how they want to run their relationship. As with a ring, the collar is your symbol. Before you take a collar in Second Life make sure the person you are getting collared by and yourself have a long discussion of the meaning of your collar. Once you both are on the same page and agree to whatever it may be you wish to have as a relationship. Then you can proceed with a collar. There are many types of collars in Second Life for you to use and they all have different functions so shop around. After you have decided on the collar you want it is always best to make a temporary trial period so that if it won’t work out you will be able to part as friends.

Susie Homemaker might be Dominatrix Carla

Question: My wife and I both play Second Life and the other day I walked in on her when she was playing. She had a guy kneeling before her and her title tag said "Dominatrix". I never knew she was as kinky as this and it really turned me on. But I was embarrassed and backed out of the room so she couldn't see me. What should I do?

Answer: Honestly, if you are not sharing your desires with this dominant woman you are a fool! What I suggest you do is take her out to dinner wine and dine her. Then come home and have some talk time. Ask her about how she feels if you were to help her more around the house. Ask her also if she would like to practice this with you in Second Life. Second Life is a great place even for a couple that is real life to explore things they might be shy about in real life. Maybe since you didn’t voice these things to her in the past she didn’t think that you would want her to be Dominatrix Carla, but more felt you wanted a Susie Homemaker type wife. In any relationship, vanilla or BDSM you need to be honest and open about your desires.

Consider the pets' feelings

Question: I would like to submit to a Domme on Second Life, but, I currently have several pets of my own and I am not sure if I do this if I will keep them or not. Can you point me in the right direction as to how I would go about this?

Answer: Human pets are not doormats, if you feel the desire to submit to a Domme and also keep pets, that sounds like you need to be a switch more than a Dom. So I would actually sit down and talk to your pets and find out how they feel about it. This would be a major chain in your relationship. Also, the Domme you pick if she is a good one would encourage that you talk to everyone involved and introduce him or her to the idea first before you decide to do it.

A Domme’s responsibilities

Question: I understand that D/s is not always about sex and sadism but has many aspects. I would like to know if I start a D/s in Second Life with a slave how deep emotionally can we get into this relationship?

Answer: Online emotions come fast and can run very deep. If you have to keep your real life separate from your second life be prepared to keep a distance. If you are looking to have a real online D/s you will need to consider that this person you are going to Dominate has a very strong attachment to you. The dynamics of D/s are very bonding online in many ways. If you are just there to have fun make sure that the person knows ahead of time you can’t get emotionally attached. If you are there to go future than online and cross over to real life make sure you are ready to make that commitment. You are messing with someone else’s emotions as well as yourself. As a Domme, you will need to be the more responsible person in the equation.

[Ask a Domme is reprinted from Barbie Starr on Second Life]

Here's a cute picture of me doing a break freeze "in Second Life" using a green screen and a digitally super-imposed backdrop. 

Linden Lab set up a fun photo booth at the Second Life Community Convention where people could get their real live selves placed in a virtual background, from drinking in a pub to underwater to driving a racecar.   I of course chose the nightclub background and did a quick freeze that had people applauding. 

Good times.

Barry Joseph, director of the Online Leadership Program at Global Kids, delivered a rapid-fire, funny, and challenging talk on "Why Second Life Can't Tip: The Power and Perils of Living La Vida Ludic." His talk described how Second Life is part of a larger revolutionary trend toward the integration of "life" and "play" that he calls the "Ludic Life."  His central thesis is that until the larger culture shifts toward appreciating the power of integrating play into all aspects of life, that Second Life can not truly "tip."

It was an thrilling talk that hopefully will shift how people approach Second Life as educators, proponents and builders.  More pics of Barry's talk and other SLCC happenings here.

Beck y Nestler Asociación para adquirir Second Life Capital Exchange (SLCX) Por Hak Scott Nestler y Bogart Beck anuncio hoy una tentativa de acuerdo para adquirir una mayor parte del accionariado en la Capital Second Life Exchange (SLCX) en una transaccion privada entre ellos mismos, Wise y Arbitraje Chango Kanto.

Partnership Beck/Nestler per l’acquisizione dell’“Second Life Capital Exchange” (SLCX)

a cura di Hak

Oggi Scott Nestler e Bogart Beck hanno annunciato un tentativo di accordo per l’acquisizione di un pacchetto di maggioranza nell’“Second Life Capital Exchange” (SLCX), nel quadro di una transazione privata tra loro stessi, Abritrage Wise e Chango Kanto.

Si tratta di un miglioramento significativo, tanto per il Capex che per l’“Second Life Wallet” e, con un po’ di fortuna, dovrebbe avere ripercussioni positive sul futuro sviluppo del Capex e la sostenibilità dell’“Second Life Wallet” (SLW).

Partnership Beck/Nestler per l’acquisizione dell’“Second Life Capital Exchange” (SLCX)

a cura di Hak

Oggi Scott Nestler e Bogart Beck hanno annunciato un tentativo di accordo per l’acquisizione di un pacchetto di maggioranza nell’“Second Life Capital Exchange” (SLCX), nel quadro di una transazione privata tra loro stessi, Abritrage Wise e Chango Kanto.

Si tratta di un miglioramento significativo, tanto per il Capex che per l’“Second Life Wallet” e, con un po’ di fortuna, dovrebbe avere ripercussioni positive sul futuro sviluppo del Capex e la sostenibilità dell’“Second Life Wallet” (SLW).

L’espansione dell’”ACE” (“Ancapistan Capital Exchange”)

L’”Ancapistan Capital Exchange” (ACE) é probabilmente una delle più avanzate borse valori di Second Life. La sua propensione alla fattibilità dovrebbe essere plaudita. Il suo colorito amministratore delegato Intlibber Brautigan, sempre alla ricerca di opportunità per aumentare gli scambi e il numero delle aziende ACE presenti sul suo listino azionario, conta attualmente 16 aziende ed un certo numero di altre compagnie appartenenti all’IPO (“Initial Public Offerings”: offerte pubbliche di base).

Linden Lab's current CEO and its founder team up to applaud achievements and outline challenges at the Second Life Community Convention.

Filed under: News items , Second Life , Virtual worlds

Back when the new in-world, Google-appliance-powered search for Second Life was put together, it had one glaring absence. While the search was entirely Web-based, there was no actual form on the Web. Recently that's changed, with Linden Lab quietly replacing the search field on most of their Web pages with an interface to search.secondlife.com in a recent update.

While there's no front page for the site, it's certainly trivial enough to locate the search forms intended for Web use . Essentially, it's Second Life's internal search bundled up for browsers, even the classified advertising down the right hand side of the results -- though unless you're willing to launch the Second Life viewer for each classified advert, they're not very usable.

All in all, however, it's a tremendous convenience if you can't run the Second Life viewer right away, but still want to dig for something or someone on the Second Life Agni grid, or if you want to look up the UUID for a user (yourself or someone else).

Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.

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Philip Rosendale and Mark Kingdon (i.e. Philip and M Linden) of Linden Lab gave a friendly breakfast talk for Day Two of the Second Life Community Convention in Tampa, Florida.  Philip is of course always good on the stump, speaking fancifully about the potential for Second Life for distance meetings, international cultural exchange and even space exploration.  Mark was more grounded, speaking about Linden Lab’s priorities for the coming year, including improving stability, creating a better new user experience, opening up the grid, and supporting the business and educational activities in Second Life better.

It was almost embarassing that Global Kids got two shout-outs from the podium this morning, Mark talking about how he gets “choked up” every time he thins about his experience visiting our office!  I’m proud of our work, and its great seeing it recognized by the higher ups at Linden Lab.

Here are some pics from their talk that follow…

Who else is looking forward to the SPORE launch this Sunday September 7? If you want to be among the very first to play SPORE, there is a pre-order ‘preload option’ through the EA Download Manager. No thanks for me on that, I’m planning to be at the local Best Buy Sunday when it opens to buy the full SPORE. In the meantime, let’s compare Sporepedia stats today: to 18 days ago: - an increase of roughly 500,000 new creatures created for total of 3.2 million Spore creatures. That’s almost double the amount of creatures created 56 days ago . - check out the number of new creatures in the last 24 hours (top screenshot): over 371,000! - now over one million people (players?) belong to the Spore community, with over 31,000 joining in the last 24 hours Expect these numbers to have another spike over the final 24 hours leading up to launch. Here are a couple links to read active Spore conversation out there Found via FriendFeed Spore : Matt Williamson via Twitter: “Spore is better that crack, and more addictive.” Rozz via Twitter: “Spore - world’s longest install.” Popular Mechanics : Top 5 Famous Sci-Fi Aliens You Can Play in Spore’s Virtual World: martians from War of the Worlds, Zenomorphs from Aliens, Arachnids from Starship Troopers, Predators from Predator and Cthulhu Mythos (the brilliantly twisted imagination of H.P Lovecraft). Gavin Purcell via Twitter: “Oh man. Spore comes out next week. How the hell am I going to fit that into my life right now. Must eliminate sleep somehow.” Via digg Spore search : Sporeillustrated (cool site name!): 54 cool and bizarre creatures including: Wiimote, Xbox 360 controller, Bowser (from Mario), Master Chief, R2D2, Toilet (love it!), Mr. Potato Head, Pink Panther and more. Via reddit Spore search : geek and nerd blog : Spore creatures that look like stuff including: Star Wars, Pokemon and more. Even a decent looking Sonic The Hedgehog. nintendoeverything.com : 19 Zelda creatures reimagined in Spore Laughing Squid : Spore 404 page Ned Batchelder on Spore steganography Plenty of different Spore creatures to put in your game. Can hardly wait!

Filed under: Bugs , Patches , News items , Second Life

Over the course of the week, we've been getting scattered reports of problems on the Second Life grid relating to the new Mono script-engine runtime that was deployed as a part of SLS-1.24. The key phrase seems to be "catastrophic mono bytecode serialization failure".

The problem itself doesn't appear to be highly reproducible, but by the accounts we're getting, when it occurs, the Mono runtime flings a complex exception, and most or all of the Mono scripts in the simulator where the exception occurred shut down, and stay that way, pending individual and manual attention.

SLS-1.24.4 rolled out on 3 September, though that apparently did not correct the problem, as we have reports of it from users as late as 4 September, despite the relative infrequency of its occurrence.

Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.

Continue reading Major failure plagues Second Life Mono deployment

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Neave.com …the interactive playground of Paul Neave paul neave does some good work (see Television) (tags: visualization web programming portfolio ) None

Raise your hand if you think building yet another IM/voice client as a standalone application is a good direction for Linden Lab venture into. Info via Mashable : The thin client SLim™ will be a voice and text instant messaging client that will enable Second Life Residents to conduct voice or text conversations with members of their Second Life Friends list in and out of the virtual world. While the Second Life viewer will still serve as the primary communication engine, SLim is capable of running on any computer and offers users a voice-enabled instant messaging client that extends the value of the Second Life platform beyond the virtual world. Back when Second Life voice capability was first introduced to the grid and most people interested in voice were already using other voice clients like Skype, this seemed like a feature Linden Lab should have left on the back burner for other more pressing features (like HTML on a prim!). Fellow VTOR author Darius wasn’t excited about voice and I can’t remember using the feature even once since beta testing nearly a year and a half ago. I still use Skype for voice in Second Life. Any voice conversation I’ve ever had with anybody inside Second Life has been using Skype. I’m curious among readers who spend time in Second Life how many use voice? If so, will you run SLim when it becomes publically available (later this year, maybe)?

Intellagirl Tulley of Indiana University gave a really interesting keynote address this afternoon where she presented a framework for thinking about how to make our Second Life educational projects more effective.  She borrowed a structure from the Clay Shirky book Here Comes Everybody called “Promise / Tool / Bargain”:

The Promise – that is what mkes us want to use a particular system The Tool – what tool is being used to make that happen The Bargain – I will do this part, and you will do your part and together we’ll fulfill the promise

According to Intellagirl, in Second Life, we run into problems when one part of this learning structure breaks down.  “Innovation fails when the bargain breaks down.”  So we need to be attentive to what we are promising, the limitations of the tool, and whether or not the students buy-in to the bargain.

My favorite Intellagirl quote:

“Why are you recreating your real life campus in Second Life and expecting people to just show up?  What are you promising?  Why would I show up at a recreation of a brick-and-mortar building when I could just visit the real thing?”

Great stuff!

Chang Liu, of the Vital Lab, Ohio University, gave a really interesting presentation on the “STEAM Project”, which stands for Science and Technology Enrichment for Appalachion Middle-schoolers.  The project was an effort to create various learning games to help teach science to middle-school children.

The technologies they used included Second Life, Flash and a custom-built game engine.  Chang demoed two of their Second Life games, a fruitfly genetics game and a “mystery” game that taught kids about scientific inference and observation.  I liked how they built a web-based interface for the teacher to use to change questions in the Second Life questionnaire on the fly, as well as monitor the kid’s answers via a web-based database.

Chang noted that they have made their games available open to any kid on the Teen Grid to play on their island, and that they plan on looking into an OpenSim solution to distribute the games more widely.  His colleage Andy told me that the LSL scripts they used to create the HUD and the games is visible and usable by other educators as well, which is a great way to scale out their work.

Looks like a really neat project that might have interesting lessons that we can compare to Global Kids “Science in Second Life” project that we did last year.