Thursday, April 17, 2008
clip from The Office
I found a clip of what inspired me to take this class. The entire episode is worth watching if you can find it
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Black Holes in Cyberspace
Researchers at the University of Washington area looking into the existence of black holes in cyberspace. They suggest that information is disappearing into a black hole when a browser doesn't go to the intended website. Most people dismiss it as a wireless or some other glitch when in reality, the information is getting lost in a "black hole".
So, are there black holes in SL?
http://www.livescience.com/technology/080411-cyber-black-holes.html
So, are there black holes in SL?
http://www.livescience.com/technology/080411-cyber-black-holes.html
Social behavior in virtual environments
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal was discussing the "surprising power of synthetic identity." (WEEKEND JOURNAL; Is This Man Cheating on His Wife?
Alexandra Alter. Wall Street Journal (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: Aug 10, 2007. p. W.1 - link: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1317807881&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=20179&RQT=309&VName=PQD). Some interesting statistics reported in the article: 40% of men and 53% of women who play online games said their virtual friends were equal to or better than their rl friends... and 25% of the 30,000 surveyed said the emotional highlight of their past week occurred in the virtual realm. The link to the Stanford study should be attached. I find this fascinating and curious. Is it bad, good, neither, or both? Thoughts?
Alexandra Alter. Wall Street Journal (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: Aug 10, 2007. p. W.1 - link: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1317807881&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=20179&RQT=309&VName=PQD). Some interesting statistics reported in the article: 40% of men and 53% of women who play online games said their virtual friends were equal to or better than their rl friends... and 25% of the 30,000 surveyed said the emotional highlight of their past week occurred in the virtual realm. The link to the Stanford study should be attached. I find this fascinating and curious. Is it bad, good, neither, or both? Thoughts?
Church on SL
I saw this before I started the class, but forgot about it until now. If you can't attend church for what ever reason, including being too lazy to leave your house, just log on to (lifechurch.tv). There seem to be many efforts to provide ease of access when it comes to attending church. I found two 2-D versions, but lifechurch.tv seems to be the most developed. With a click to the title you will be taken to a video of SL site of (lifechurch.tv).
What do people who normally attend church think of this? Would you attend church virtually? What are the opinions of those who do not attend church on a regular basis?
What do people who normally attend church think of this? Would you attend church virtually? What are the opinions of those who do not attend church on a regular basis?
Interesting Summer B class
There's an upcoming summer B class that I think will be interesting to everyone in this class: it is an interdisciplinary course on online social networks (ie Facebook, MySpace) and related kin (Twitter, etc.) offered out of the College of Jou. & Comm. (OK, I admit I might be biased because I am teaching it, but *I* think it will be interesting. :)
Here's a basic pitch - please see me in class, send me an email, or message me in SL for details.
-----------
There are more than 68 million users of Facebook in the United States, and the majority of those users log in at least once a day. You probably know someone who is 'addicted' to Facebook or MySpace, or that person might be you. You might use "social media" tools a lot every day... but how much do you really think about them? Have you thought about the following questions:
-- how are social media tools changing my relationships?
-- how are social media tools changing the way we communicate?
-- what does it mean to say I have a "digital identity" and how do I "relate to it" and "manage it"?
-- how will social media tools affect my career?
-- are these technologies making my life better or worse?
If you're going to be on campus in the Summer B semester and are looking for an interesting summer course, there's a new undergraduate course that will explore these questions.
JOU 4930 (section 4919 - the section number is important) will meet Monday - Friday from 11am - 12:15pm in Weimer Hall 1076. There are no prerequisites. A good portion of the class work will be done online at different social media websites - class time will be primarily discussion and exploration of different resources related to the class.
Students can email me at: gritz@ufl.edu with questions - I have a preliminary syllabus available. A Facebook page devoted to the class also has been set up.
Thanks!
Here's a basic pitch - please see me in class, send me an email, or message me in SL for details.
-----------
There are more than 68 million users of Facebook in the United States, and the majority of those users log in at least once a day. You probably know someone who is 'addicted' to Facebook or MySpace, or that person might be you. You might use "social media" tools a lot every day... but how much do you really think about them? Have you thought about the following questions:
-- how are social media tools changing my relationships?
-- how are social media tools changing the way we communicate?
-- what does it mean to say I have a "digital identity" and how do I "relate to it" and "manage it"?
-- how will social media tools affect my career?
-- are these technologies making my life better or worse?
If you're going to be on campus in the Summer B semester and are looking for an interesting summer course, there's a new undergraduate course that will explore these questions.
JOU 4930 (section 4919 - the section number is important) will meet Monday - Friday from 11am - 12:15pm in Weimer Hall 1076. There are no prerequisites. A good portion of the class work will be done online at different social media websites - class time will be primarily discussion and exploration of different resources related to the class.
Students can email me at: gritz@ufl.edu with questions - I have a preliminary syllabus available. A Facebook page devoted to the class also has been set up.
Thanks!
Monday, April 14, 2008
going green
This may be a little out of context I just wanted to share with you all some of the key focus of industry folks around the world. I recently got back from the International Advertising Association World Congress that was help in Washington DC this year. The central theme of most advertising professional seems to revolve around being truly green as opposed to just riding the wave. E-Platforms help in a lot of way for educational institutions to really promote this cause but at the same time when auditing some of the process that we do officially or personally if each one of us audit ourselves we may do a lot better. So before you print a piece of paper next time for class re-think...
life like avatars
The stage seems to be slowly forming for life like avatars. Visit 0ddcast site they are adding a face and personality to their avatars. They aim at personalizing websites by adding personality to it so it would speak to the targeted audiences. The future is now slowly opening up to add personalities and emotions to avatars as well. Just wanted to share this new development.
Real Life Shopping
I have begun to realize more and more that poeple actually enjoy shopping for things on SL, including clothing, furniture, cars, etc. I think that this could be a great business channel for actual malls and shops that exist in cities around the world. I imagine alot of people who don't have the money or other means to visit somewhere like Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills would love to be able to walk down a replica in SL that delivers the same ambiance. Users would be able to enjoy the glitz and glamor of such places without even being there.
I also think that retailers would be able to set up a system where users could be in the store, click on the item and buy the real thing on that company's website. Or users could just by the SL version for a much cheaper price. If users chose the real life version they would just be directed to the website and could customize there purchase. There are endless possibilities and locations to be exposed from all over the world. I am not much of a shopper but I know that there are plenty of people out there who are and I think that there could be a good business model out there to expose this.
Schilling
I also think that retailers would be able to set up a system where users could be in the store, click on the item and buy the real thing on that company's website. Or users could just by the SL version for a much cheaper price. If users chose the real life version they would just be directed to the website and could customize there purchase. There are endless possibilities and locations to be exposed from all over the world. I am not much of a shopper but I know that there are plenty of people out there who are and I think that there could be a good business model out there to expose this.
Schilling
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Competing Virtual Worlds
I came across an article speaking about Nickelodeon and their plans to increase work on their own virtual world. Nickelodeon is expected to announce Thursday that it is developing an entire virtual world, involving games, avatars and a strong social-networking component, based on network hit “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
Nick also is expected to announce that it is developing Monkey World, a social-networking and massive multiplayer game based on an original concept and not tied to any of its existing franchises.
The company is becoming increasingly competitive with Disney, which already has ToonTown and recently acquired Club Penguin. Virtual worlds such as these are targeting young children, but do frequently charge subscription fees.
Although these worlds target a younger crowd than that of Second Life, it could pose problems if SL intends to grow and starts a "Children's Second Life."
Nick also is expected to announce that it is developing Monkey World, a social-networking and massive multiplayer game based on an original concept and not tied to any of its existing franchises.
The company is becoming increasingly competitive with Disney, which already has ToonTown and recently acquired Club Penguin. Virtual worlds such as these are targeting young children, but do frequently charge subscription fees.
Although these worlds target a younger crowd than that of Second Life, it could pose problems if SL intends to grow and starts a "Children's Second Life."
UF Graduate Student Council 2008 Research Forum
To our Class:
I just was notified Saturday that I was accepted as a Poster Presenter for the Graduate Student Council Research Forum happening this Monday, April 14 at the Rietz Union.
Between 10:30 and noon I will be displaying photos, summary documents, and logged into SL on my laptop showing how Group 6 is Bringing (Criminal) Justice to Second Life.
Drop by if you get a chance, I'll give a report on how the Forum went when I get the opportunity.
Doug
I just was notified Saturday that I was accepted as a Poster Presenter for the Graduate Student Council Research Forum happening this Monday, April 14 at the Rietz Union.
Between 10:30 and noon I will be displaying photos, summary documents, and logged into SL on my laptop showing how Group 6 is Bringing (Criminal) Justice to Second Life.
Drop by if you get a chance, I'll give a report on how the Forum went when I get the opportunity.
Doug
Nicholaz “The Mad Patcher” Beresford's Moment of Truth
"At the moment I simply don't have the time, but to be true to myself and you, probably even if I had, I'd be no longer willing to put up with Bullshit™ any more." Says Nicholaz one of the leading Second Life open source viewer developers. Read Nicholaz' blog here
I have read on this blog and others about people's complains about the recent hours long outages, viewer crashes, and several other technical concerns, and I strongly believed that LLs move to open source the viewer and later on the grids was a smart move in the right direction to remedy those problems. [have a look at "How Many Eyeballs Tame Complexity" from The Cathedral and the Bazaar]
However, a key component in open source development is the transparent communications between the core developers and the community around the project. Ignoring developers submission hardly qualifies as a good open source practice.
If examples were a teacher LL should have a look at how successful open source companies handle their communities. Like Red Hat, Sun Microsystems, Mozilla, IBM ... and the list goes on.
Finally, Linden Labs might have laid the ground for a successful bazaar mode project -A precondition for bazaar mode development- however, they should invest in the effort the community invests in them.
I have read on this blog and others about people's complains about the recent hours long outages, viewer crashes, and several other technical concerns, and I strongly believed that LLs move to open source the viewer and later on the grids was a smart move in the right direction to remedy those problems. [have a look at "How Many Eyeballs Tame Complexity" from The Cathedral and the Bazaar]
However, a key component in open source development is the transparent communications between the core developers and the community around the project. Ignoring developers submission hardly qualifies as a good open source practice.
If examples were a teacher LL should have a look at how successful open source companies handle their communities. Like Red Hat, Sun Microsystems, Mozilla, IBM ... and the list goes on.
Finally, Linden Labs might have laid the ground for a successful bazaar mode project -A precondition for bazaar mode development- however, they should invest in the effort the community invests in them.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Paper on Wii interface for SL
As I was searching the web today for other reference material, I came across a scholarly paper about the use of a wii interface with SL. Although the subject has been talked about before on the blog, I don't believe an actual scholarly article has been cited. It is now on the resources page for your benefit!
Resources page
Resources page
Virtual Marketing
In working with one of my faculty members (he wants to discuss Second Life marketing in his economics course next week), I ran across a few links to share:
- http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/09/DDGPQM86BJ1.DTL
- http://www.metalives.com/10/resident-oriented-marketing/marketing/
- http://www.3pointd.com/20060819/adidas-reebok-runs-to-second-life/
- http://www.metalives.com/19/contextual-advertising-in-second-life/marketing/
- http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/second-life-job.htm
- http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/09/DDGPQM86BJ1.DTL
It seems that more and more people are exploring the same topics that we are researching. It will be interesting to look back five or ten years from now at this time and see how much we have (or have not - ie the flying cars envisioned 20 years ago) accomplished.
Tawnya
- http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/09/DDGPQM86BJ1.DTL
- http://www.metalives.com/10/resident-oriented-marketing/marketing/
- http://www.3pointd.com/20060819/adidas-reebok-runs-to-second-life/
- http://www.metalives.com/19/contextual-advertising-in-second-life/marketing/
- http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/second-life-job.htm
- http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/09/DDGPQM86BJ1.DTL
It seems that more and more people are exploring the same topics that we are researching. It will be interesting to look back five or ten years from now at this time and see how much we have (or have not - ie the flying cars envisioned 20 years ago) accomplished.
Tawnya
Arctic Region SuperComputing Project
I thought you might be interested in this project going on at the ARSC (Arctic Region SuperComputing Center). The idea of creating a three dimensional, virtual reality drawing program using body language or gesture recognition seems to me filled with potential for future interface applications for MUVE's. At the very least it would provide a much better way to create avatars and structures in MUVE's.
Enjoy! And be sure to check out the other projects they are working on there. It may be cold up there, but they sure are working on some hot stuff.
Enjoy! And be sure to check out the other projects they are working on there. It may be cold up there, but they sure are working on some hot stuff.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Daily Show pokes fun at SL/Congress use of SL
Additionally, here is an article about it.
http://kotaku.com/376563/second-life-goes-before-congress
http://kotaku.com/376563/second-life-goes-before-congress
Monday, April 7, 2008
Scripters and Builders on Second Life
Last week, I was close to an equivalent of a panic attack. The deadline was approaching fast, and we still don’t have a structure: what am I going to do?
The first thing I did was talk to Arturo and Dennis about the situation, and they talked to me about the fact that there are builders and scripters all over Second Life looking seeking some tasks to fulfill—some of them do it out of joy and others think of it as a job and as a source of financial gains.
Well I looked round, and it was hard locating people at first. Then I realized the best way to search for builders is searching through the classified ads. I contacted about 10 people last week, and I finally contracted with a lady who owns a building company and a guy who like scripting.
The most difficult part of this process is that it is time consuming. It took a lot of time to first find these people, try to explain to them what exactly our group is looking for and finally negotiate a price. There was also the issue of trust. You don’t really know these people, and you don’t know their level of skill, so you have try to figure it out through your conversations with them. I hired a person who said he was capable of doing our building—which is a really complicated building—but I soon found out that he doesn’t have the right skills to fulfill this job. I asked the person if he can do the scripting and I found an experienced builder who is currently doing a beautiful job creating our structure—you can teleport to our space using the blue teleport right across the Fine Arts building.
All I want to say is that if any of you are having trouble with scripting and building, you can find people who can do the job for you before the deadline. Just be patient, careful and have your Lindens ready.
Good luck all, and I hope you guys check our building and give us your opinions on it.
The first thing I did was talk to Arturo and Dennis about the situation, and they talked to me about the fact that there are builders and scripters all over Second Life looking seeking some tasks to fulfill—some of them do it out of joy and others think of it as a job and as a source of financial gains.
Well I looked round, and it was hard locating people at first. Then I realized the best way to search for builders is searching through the classified ads. I contacted about 10 people last week, and I finally contracted with a lady who owns a building company and a guy who like scripting.
The most difficult part of this process is that it is time consuming. It took a lot of time to first find these people, try to explain to them what exactly our group is looking for and finally negotiate a price. There was also the issue of trust. You don’t really know these people, and you don’t know their level of skill, so you have try to figure it out through your conversations with them. I hired a person who said he was capable of doing our building—which is a really complicated building—but I soon found out that he doesn’t have the right skills to fulfill this job. I asked the person if he can do the scripting and I found an experienced builder who is currently doing a beautiful job creating our structure—you can teleport to our space using the blue teleport right across the Fine Arts building.
All I want to say is that if any of you are having trouble with scripting and building, you can find people who can do the job for you before the deadline. Just be patient, careful and have your Lindens ready.
Good luck all, and I hope you guys check our building and give us your opinions on it.
Mono
I have been progressively more vocal about Second Life's scripting language inadequacies. While the syntax is simple enough it lacks the ability to be versatile, it in my opinion doesn't measure up to the creative people doing projects and programming in Second Life.
While I am sure the LSL is "Turing Complete" it is slow and lacks a lot of feature available in languages such as python, java, ruby..etc. Moreover, LSL lacks the libraries and the huge communities developing those libraries and other applications. However this is about to change. Linden Lab has started moving to Mono a C# like language. This move could very much be the deciding factor for the future of Second Life and Linden Labs.
Less important in my opinion is the fact that mono scripts run 220 times faster than their LSL2 counterpart. Yet a welcomed addition
Mono, will allow developers to program more flawlessly, focusing on content rather than spending time struggling with LSL.
While I am sure the LSL is "Turing Complete" it is slow and lacks a lot of feature available in languages such as python, java, ruby..etc. Moreover, LSL lacks the libraries and the huge communities developing those libraries and other applications. However this is about to change. Linden Lab has started moving to Mono a C# like language. This move could very much be the deciding factor for the future of Second Life and Linden Labs.
Less important in my opinion is the fact that mono scripts run 220 times faster than their LSL2 counterpart. Yet a welcomed addition
Mono, will allow developers to program more flawlessly, focusing on content rather than spending time struggling with LSL.
[book] Platform Second Life
Whether Second Life will be the platform of the future or not is not the issue here. It is that people are starting to see the role that virtual environments can play in providing real life applications by being the delivery platform.
Havok Engine Released for Free
Havok Engine has been provided for free in non-commercial PC applications
Havok Engine is the engine that powers Second Life, Half-life, CoH, Starcraft and quite a few other big names.
Havok Engine is the engine that powers Second Life, Half-life, CoH, Starcraft and quite a few other big names.
Purchasing Property through SL
As I prepare to graduate and move on to a career, I am faced with issues such as searching for a condo/apartment to move to. It has been a tedious process and I can't seem to get over the feel that I am going to make a bad decision. The problem with this is that I am looking at pictures and reading about properties online, but I am unable to get a feel for what I am actually getting.
Second Life could be a possible avenue for improving this process. If property owners or management groups built models of their properties on the market, potential buyers would be able to tour them in second life. They could be built so that the dimensions are similar to that in real life, and everything within the house is the same. If this process was developed, I believe it would become very popular and potentially change the way people shop for homes forever. This could also be done to sell commercial properties, vehicles, or anything else that adding dimensions to could improve.
Second Life could be a possible avenue for improving this process. If property owners or management groups built models of their properties on the market, potential buyers would be able to tour them in second life. They could be built so that the dimensions are similar to that in real life, and everything within the house is the same. If this process was developed, I believe it would become very popular and potentially change the way people shop for homes forever. This could also be done to sell commercial properties, vehicles, or anything else that adding dimensions to could improve.
The Last Lecture: A Must See
I don't know if you've already seen the Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch, or took the cue from our speaker last week, but it is a must see! One thing that I took from it was the idea of a head fake.
Many students, including myself, have referred to school as boring. What Randy has termed a 'head fake' has the potential to erase boring from someones vocabulary when talking about education. This puts the student in an environment that (s)he enjoys and teaches him/her something they would normally not enjoy learning by tricking them. 'One' of examples Randy gives is about the Alice program he's working on. In the program the user thinks (s)he making a movies and video games, when they are actually learning computer programming. I think this is something that is greatly lacking in the educational institutions I have attended, especially the higher I've gone. I remember having to do pages of math homework in middle and high school AND hating it. I remember playing a game in my elementary days that emphasized math skills on a computer AND loving it.
The student doesn't even need to be tricked into doing something, it only needs to be fun to increase the chance the student might actually take something from a lesson.
This is only ONE of the many things that I took from and enjoyed about Randy's speech. I highly recommend watching it, just give the title of this post a click, sit back, relax, and watch it.
Many students, including myself, have referred to school as boring. What Randy has termed a 'head fake' has the potential to erase boring from someones vocabulary when talking about education. This puts the student in an environment that (s)he enjoys and teaches him/her something they would normally not enjoy learning by tricking them. 'One' of examples Randy gives is about the Alice program he's working on. In the program the user thinks (s)he making a movies and video games, when they are actually learning computer programming. I think this is something that is greatly lacking in the educational institutions I have attended, especially the higher I've gone. I remember having to do pages of math homework in middle and high school AND hating it. I remember playing a game in my elementary days that emphasized math skills on a computer AND loving it.
The student doesn't even need to be tricked into doing something, it only needs to be fun to increase the chance the student might actually take something from a lesson.
This is only ONE of the many things that I took from and enjoyed about Randy's speech. I highly recommend watching it, just give the title of this post a click, sit back, relax, and watch it.
Observations and recommendations
Thanks to those of you who attended the Team3/Gator Quest event in the Swamp on Thursday. The virtual Gods were smiling on us and all the technology came together for the presentation so the folks in the real world were able to see the virtual world, and the virtual audience was in fact able to see both the SL presentation and the live webstream from Weimer Hall. Along the way, we learned a few things I thought might be worth sharing right away.
Regarding audio and video, in order to see and hear multi-media effectively, you should load the newest version of SL AND the newest version of QuickTime. THEN, spend a few moments learning how to use the new navigation bar at the bottom of the screen. You can turn on/off the music, turn on/off the multi-media, and adjust ambient sounds, etc. with the volume controls. If, for example, as was the case on Thursday, the audio/visual came from the streaming media. SO, the master volume should be turned up, music and ambient sounds turned off, and the media button turned on. And viola! Sound and video in real time. We got quite a few IMs with people having difficulty initially, but I believe, in the end, everyone was able to see and hear effectively. Hope this is helpful in some way.
Regarding audio and video, in order to see and hear multi-media effectively, you should load the newest version of SL AND the newest version of QuickTime. THEN, spend a few moments learning how to use the new navigation bar at the bottom of the screen. You can turn on/off the music, turn on/off the multi-media, and adjust ambient sounds, etc. with the volume controls. If, for example, as was the case on Thursday, the audio/visual came from the streaming media. SO, the master volume should be turned up, music and ambient sounds turned off, and the media button turned on. And viola! Sound and video in real time. We got quite a few IMs with people having difficulty initially, but I believe, in the end, everyone was able to see and hear effectively. Hope this is helpful in some way.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Alternate Reality Gaming
For those of you interested in alternate reality games and viral marketing like the Batman movie promotion that Keith wrote about, check out www.findthelostring.com. This is an ARG promoting the Summer 2008 Olympics. If you're not sure how to get started, I suggest checking out this link to get caught up- http://olympics.wikibruce.com/Home.
On the website, you will meet the character, Ariadne, who has amnesia and cannot remember her real name. She woke up in a maze in the middle of nowhere. After posting her story on the internet, she discovered there are others like herself. They all woke up in mazes around the world, can't remember who they are, and are in peak athletic condition. Help Ariadne and the others make sense of what happened to them and find out why! Discover "the lost game" of the Olympics!
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Logins disabled until further notice
Is it me, or has SL been overrun with technical problems lately?
I really like this application, but this company needs to get their shizzle together.
I really like this application, but this company needs to get their shizzle together.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Congress in Second Life
Back at the end of Jan. someone had posted about Congress in Second Life...
Well, on April 1st another session was held.
Definately read and look at the pictures.
=]
Well, on April 1st another session was held.
Definately read and look at the pictures.
=]
Multi-touch interface design
What do you guys think of this idea by Jeff Han? What applications can you imagine for this kind of interface for Multi-user Virtual Environments? Other applications?
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Who's Joining Me?
So reading through my blogs this morning I was pleasantly surprised that I had quite a few virtual worlds articles.
My favorite (and the one that the title of the post refers to) is Nickelodeon is developing a Spongebob Squarepants Virtual World.
Also interesting is that Paramount is using There.com (another virtual world... Anyone have experience with this one?) to by allowing avatars to place mini clips over their heads.
What really gets me about the Paramount article is how amazing viral marketing has become online. I'm not an advertising or marketing major and really know little about it, but holy cow this business is booming especially with websites like those created for the new Batman movie.
My favorite (and the one that the title of the post refers to) is Nickelodeon is developing a Spongebob Squarepants Virtual World.
Also interesting is that Paramount is using There.com (another virtual world... Anyone have experience with this one?) to by allowing avatars to place mini clips over their heads.
What really gets me about the Paramount article is how amazing viral marketing has become online. I'm not an advertising or marketing major and really know little about it, but holy cow this business is booming especially with websites like those created for the new Batman movie.
Tuesday's Speaker
I thought it would be important to write about my thoughts on what I thought was the best speaker we have had thus far. The presenter showcased some serious grasp for getting his feelings across to students. It would be nearly impossible not to pay attention to what he had to say even if the subject matter wasn't interesting, but in this case it was. He brought up a lot of points that you tend to take for granted in today's age of computers and technology. Just the simple idea of multitasking on AIM, its something I have been using since middle school and have never even thought about it as being multitasking. The program they have at carnegie mellon appears to be one of the best in the country and I think our program is on the right track.
Thank you for all those involved in bringing our speaker in for last class.
Schilling
Thank you for all those involved in bringing our speaker in for last class.
Schilling
Just a reminder... Dean John Wright in the Swamp this afternoon
Hello fellow avatars,
Just a reminder that the Team 3 Gator Quest presentation by College of Journalism and Communications Dean John Wright is THIS afternoon. I have sent invitations to everyone to join our group so you may enter our parcel. I will also send a notecard reminder (if you haven't already recieved it) with a few details. In case you DON'T get it...
First, please go to the Welcome Center area in the SE corner of the Swamp. There you will be able to pick up and wear the HUD. Gaelle will be there to answer any questions you may have. Please arrive no later than 4:45 so we're ready to start by 5:00.
Second, please make sure you set the World Sun to noon... you'll get a much better view.
Third, if you have any trouble hearing, once the Dean has begun, you may need to move closer to front/center. Make sure you've turned down your ambient sounds, turn off your music, and turn ON the streaming video. You'll need it to hear and see the screens.
Finally, we will have a few questions that Brandog will be asking in IM prior to the Dean's comments that you will need to answer in the HUD. He will provide instructions. Once the Dean begins, we ask that you use the HUD to measure your response to his comments and the content. These will only be seen by you so will not be distracting on the screen. We ask that you save discussion in IM (or voice) for the post-speech discussion upstairs afterward. The Dean will only speak for 15-20 minutes, then you can head up to the teleports back up at the Welcome Center where Unknownhero2 Darwin will guide you to the Skybox.
Thanks to those of you who can join us! See you in the Swamp this afternoon.
Donna D, on behalf of Team 3
Just a reminder that the Team 3 Gator Quest presentation by College of Journalism and Communications Dean John Wright is THIS afternoon. I have sent invitations to everyone to join our group so you may enter our parcel. I will also send a notecard reminder (if you haven't already recieved it) with a few details. In case you DON'T get it...
First, please go to the Welcome Center area in the SE corner of the Swamp. There you will be able to pick up and wear the HUD. Gaelle will be there to answer any questions you may have. Please arrive no later than 4:45 so we're ready to start by 5:00.
Second, please make sure you set the World Sun to noon... you'll get a much better view.
Third, if you have any trouble hearing, once the Dean has begun, you may need to move closer to front/center. Make sure you've turned down your ambient sounds, turn off your music, and turn ON the streaming video. You'll need it to hear and see the screens.
Finally, we will have a few questions that Brandog will be asking in IM prior to the Dean's comments that you will need to answer in the HUD. He will provide instructions. Once the Dean begins, we ask that you use the HUD to measure your response to his comments and the content. These will only be seen by you so will not be distracting on the screen. We ask that you save discussion in IM (or voice) for the post-speech discussion upstairs afterward. The Dean will only speak for 15-20 minutes, then you can head up to the teleports back up at the Welcome Center where Unknownhero2 Darwin will guide you to the Skybox.
Thanks to those of you who can join us! See you in the Swamp this afternoon.
Donna D, on behalf of Team 3
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Virtual Reality and the Treatement of Paranoia
Research at the Department of Computer Sciences, University College London used virtual reality to measure the spread of paranoia and paranoid thoughts among people in general casual circumstances.
You can find the original article here
As the article points out "The research, funded by the Wellcome Trust, will be detailed in the April 1 issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry."
Team 3 Event TOMORROW (April 3rd)
Please join us on our SL Gator Quest to better understand engagement and interactivity in Second Life as we host Dr. John Wright, Dean of the College of Journalism and Communications in the Swamp Amphitheatre, Thursday, April 3, at 5:00 PM (2:00 PM SLT). As the new dean, Dr. Wright will be presenting his vision of the future of new media and digital technologies in the College. Dr. Wright will be giving this presentation in RL as part of his "State of the College" address at the spring meeting of the Public Relations Advisory Council in Weimer Hall while we simulcast it to a SL audience at the amphitheatre. His presentation will be in voice, so please make sure you have your voice activated. We've also learned that it's best to sit closer to the stage for best sound quality.
You will also have the opportunity to participate in our study of engagement and interactivity through your active response to the HUDs that we ask that you attach at the event. Only YOU will see the HUD and your responses are completely confidential (no ID attached at all). Complete HUD directions are at the Welcome Center sign announcing the event. If you could plan on getting there at at 4:45, to make sure you have the HUD attached, find a seat, and we'll have a brief discussion/Q&A prior to the dean's comments. His presentation will be brief... approximately 15-20 minutes. We also invite you to join us for a chat in our “Sky Box Amphitheatre” after the presentation for feedback and a general discussion of your interactive experiences in SL. You can get upstairs by using the teleports at the amphitheatre Welcome Center. While your HUD data is confidential, public chat at the entire event will be logged and used for our final analysis.
Finally, if you have friends that you believe would have an interest in joining us on Thursday, please have them provide me their avatar's name via email (dzdavis@ufl.edu)so I can offer them permission to enter our parcel for the event.
Hope to see you in the Swamp on Thursday!
You will also have the opportunity to participate in our study of engagement and interactivity through your active response to the HUDs that we ask that you attach at the event. Only YOU will see the HUD and your responses are completely confidential (no ID attached at all). Complete HUD directions are at the Welcome Center sign announcing the event. If you could plan on getting there at at 4:45, to make sure you have the HUD attached, find a seat, and we'll have a brief discussion/Q&A prior to the dean's comments. His presentation will be brief... approximately 15-20 minutes. We also invite you to join us for a chat in our “Sky Box Amphitheatre” after the presentation for feedback and a general discussion of your interactive experiences in SL. You can get upstairs by using the teleports at the amphitheatre Welcome Center. While your HUD data is confidential, public chat at the entire event will be logged and used for our final analysis.
Finally, if you have friends that you believe would have an interest in joining us on Thursday, please have them provide me their avatar's name via email (dzdavis@ufl.edu)so I can offer them permission to enter our parcel for the event.
Hope to see you in the Swamp on Thursday!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Politics in World
I have heard of many occasions where people have used second life as a way to voice their opinions about certain subjects. I often wonder if second life could be a good venue for political opinion. With election day quickly approaching I would imagine that many people have been using Second Life as a resource for political science topics. I feel unfortunately however that the majority of what would be found on SL is a liberal opinion on politics, however I have no proof of this. Does anyone have an opinion on that statement?
I would hope that we could at least find a fair opinion on both sides of the political spectrum. I plan to investigate this topic further this week. I thought it might be a good idea to set up my own island with my own political opinions on it. I will keep everyone updated on its progress. All opinions or help is always welcome.
Schilling
I would hope that we could at least find a fair opinion on both sides of the political spectrum. I plan to investigate this topic further this week. I thought it might be a good idea to set up my own island with my own political opinions on it. I will keep everyone updated on its progress. All opinions or help is always welcome.
Schilling
Random Thoughts
Warning: This is more of a rambling of thoughts that I've had, and yes some things relate to SL, others not so much..
So, I sit here, on my computer with the understanding that we have about a month left this semester. And I thought about how when I first came into this class how excited I was. How I wanted to be in here, 1) Because people I knew just raved about SL and I had yet to be given an excuse to download it 2) I have had various expierences with virtual worlds, and was very interested in what made this one different. I came in to this class, not only wanting to widen my horizons, meet people from various degree backgrounds, but also have the ability to express myself.
And unfortunately I found myself in a very difficult place. Now understand, I still classify myself as being a young individual. And I think most would agree. I look around the room, and most of the people I sit with are not freshman in college. Even though people here are considered my peers, I do not feel like I am their peer intellectually. And many times this has stopped me from commenting in the class during discussion, and many times from posting or commenting on the blog as well.
And I regret that. I regret not taking the opportunity to step up and converse with those around me.
After such thoughts, I actually began to think about my interaction within SL. In terms of interacting with those that I might see in class, well, it seems as if I tried to avoid such things. As to other places in SL, I find it easy to start up a conversation with random people I meet, and I seem to have no problem with leading a conversation. And in real life, in any circumstance but our classroom, I seem to have no problems doing either of these things!
It just seems as for sharing, talking, and communicating within the class and on the blog, well I think feeling meek and shy may be an understatement.
And maybe all this has something to do with not really knowing as much as those around me. Or at least me feeling as if I don't know as much. Or maybe that sometimes I think that I really don't have much to say that would add value to the conversation.
I check the blog on a regular basis, and I think well, it would be nice just to post, post about thoughts, random as they be, some dealing with SL, others about news in technology and the world.
Hmmm. Well. I think that is enough rambling for now.
Hopefully later I'll get to post my machinama!!
So, I sit here, on my computer with the understanding that we have about a month left this semester. And I thought about how when I first came into this class how excited I was. How I wanted to be in here, 1) Because people I knew just raved about SL and I had yet to be given an excuse to download it 2) I have had various expierences with virtual worlds, and was very interested in what made this one different. I came in to this class, not only wanting to widen my horizons, meet people from various degree backgrounds, but also have the ability to express myself.
And unfortunately I found myself in a very difficult place. Now understand, I still classify myself as being a young individual. And I think most would agree. I look around the room, and most of the people I sit with are not freshman in college. Even though people here are considered my peers, I do not feel like I am their peer intellectually. And many times this has stopped me from commenting in the class during discussion, and many times from posting or commenting on the blog as well.
And I regret that. I regret not taking the opportunity to step up and converse with those around me.
After such thoughts, I actually began to think about my interaction within SL. In terms of interacting with those that I might see in class, well, it seems as if I tried to avoid such things. As to other places in SL, I find it easy to start up a conversation with random people I meet, and I seem to have no problem with leading a conversation. And in real life, in any circumstance but our classroom, I seem to have no problems doing either of these things!
It just seems as for sharing, talking, and communicating within the class and on the blog, well I think feeling meek and shy may be an understatement.
And maybe all this has something to do with not really knowing as much as those around me. Or at least me feeling as if I don't know as much. Or maybe that sometimes I think that I really don't have much to say that would add value to the conversation.
I check the blog on a regular basis, and I think well, it would be nice just to post, post about thoughts, random as they be, some dealing with SL, others about news in technology and the world.
Hmmm. Well. I think that is enough rambling for now.
Hopefully later I'll get to post my machinama!!
a few thoughts on non-seq learning
I am sorry I am late in posting my thoughts about this reading. Here are few on my thoughts on the article by LaChapelle.
Designing non-sequential learning – Some time ago I had an opportunity to talk to Dr. Ulmer who was working along these lines on the web environment. He would be a great speaker to have for our class for one of the sessions. Thinking along these lines SL is an environment that defies RL principles in many ways, in other words this is a place where one can let their fantasies run wild. So under those circumstances defining rules of operations could negate the exploratory nature this environment presents. At the same time not having such would lead to chaos. I personally feel a guided approach in learning environments in SL will be a better alternative as opposed to defined rules. I am sure all of us have experience bots in IM’s a more functional BOT that could serve as a peer or a guide in SL will ad some positive experience.
ESL as LSE
Second Life being used for educational purposes is nothing new, but it is always interesting to see this get such publicity. I imagine that picking up English as a Second Language in Second Life can be a cheap, no pressure way of boosting one's vocabulary. One of the people interviewed talks about how they dressed up in pirate gear and taught ESL students new words in practical use like "loot" and "booty". They also loaded up particular scenes like restaurants and had ESL students practice ordering food, a very useful exercise.
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