Here is something pretty cool, and even if you don’t use Second Life, you’ll still be able to enjoy it. On August 1st, the next solar eclipse will happen, and, if you live in the US you won’t be able to see it live, but thankfully, San Francisco’s Exploratorium science museum will be streaming it live inside Second Life.

Second Life users can view the 45-minute Webcast, starting at 3:30 a.m. PDT August 1, on the virtual world’s so-called Exploratorium Island. Avatars can also gather at the Pi Day Theater at the Sploland Sim, at the Science School Sim, and at the Spindrift Sim. The eclipse will be accompanied by video and commentary of Exploratorium and NASA scientists.

Starting July 1, Second Life members and their real-life makers can use Exploratorium Island to learn about solar eclipses, Chinese culture, and solar science. Source:

Non Second Life users will also be able to watch the solar eclipse on the exploratorium website.

On August 1, 2008, a total solar eclipse will occur as the new moon moves directly between the sun and the earth. The moon’s umbral shadow will fall first on Canada, then zoom across northern Greenland, the Arctic, central Russia, Mongolia, and into China, where an Exploratorium team will be waiting. Our fifth eclipse expedition brings our team to remote Xinjiang Provence in northwestern China, very close to the Mongolian border, where we’ll Webcast the eclipse live. Please check back, as the date nears, for more details.

Check here for more details.

Popularity: 16%

From: AIDS.gov Second Life (Part 2 of “We Are Living in a Virtual World”) Quote from the site - This week we build on our June 10 post about virtual worlds and focus on the well-known site, Second Life. To better understand how Second Life can help share HIV information and provide support to those who are HIV-positive, we continued our conversation with our colleagues from the NIH-funded Health Info Island, Lori Bell and Carol Perryman.

From: SL iReports Economic pressures threaten surfing sims Quote from the site - Economic pressures are taking their toll on surf sims in Second Life and it seems certain that more surf sims will close during the coming months, according to the Second Life surfing blog SurfWatch. Rezzable, one of Second Life’s leading sim owner/developers, announced the closing of Surfline Aloha and Surfline Epic sims at the end of June, just a couple of months after completely redesigning and relaunching the surf sims.

From: LifeLongLearningLab Second Life Roundtable: Best Practices, Security Concerns, and Future Developments Quote from the site - The Second Life Roundtable: Best Practices, Security Concerns, and Future Developments was held in Second Life on Monday, June 30, 2008, as part of a week-long celebration of Second Life’s fifth anniversary.

From: My New Media Weblog Second Life - My World Quote from the site - Finally I am excited about Second Life. My opinion about it is changing form a pessimistic position to a more optimistic one. Second Life allows people to communicate and the fact that your avatars are present, it makes the communication visually interesting.

From: Business Wire CIGNA Creating a Virtual Health Care Community Quote from the site - Today CIGNA, a leading health service company, is announcing the development of a virtual health care community. This computer-simulated world is situated on a Second Life island, where seminars, interactive displays, educational games and virtual health consultations help foster real and sustainable behavior change that improves health.

From: Second Life Good Morning from San Antonio! Quote from the site - Talk about sensory and emotional overload!LOL Yesterday, at 8:30 a.m. the entire DEN in SL LC presented together face-to-face. Although most of us had the opportunity (fortune) to meet face-to-face on Saturday night (I landing late and cursing the shuttle service to the hotel — I was the last stop), Celestia met some of the LC for the first time only 45 minutes before the presentation.

From: SLWTF Be one with the ball Quote from the site - There are few things that make me happier in Second Life than finding set of Japanese regions I haven’t encountered before. I’m going to spend the next few posts extolling the wonderful, wacky weirdness we’ve all come to expect.

From: The Industry Standard Cigna deploys a Second Life island for health education Quote from the site - Hoping to make healthcare education hip, Cigna Healthcare is announcing today it has created a virtual environment in the Second Life virtual world to educate people on how to improve their health.

From: Linux Insider Virtual Worlds: And the Children Shall Lead Quote from the site - Virtual worlds like Second Life may not claim as much traffic as top social networking or video-sharing sites, but opportunities are there, writes Parks Associates’ Michael Cai. One relatively strong area is youth-oriented 3-D virtual worlds, where gaming comes into play.

From: The Journal Gazette Virtual ventures pay off Quote from the site - To save money in these tough times, universities, conference planners and global companies have started holding gatherings for far-flung employees and students in the online world known as Second Life.

From: A taste of Second Life Inquiry in a Networked World - LTEA2008 in Second Life Quote from the site - Last week I attended a couple of sessions at the “Learning Through Enquiry Alliance (LTEA) Conference 2008 - Inquiry in a Networked World”, held by the University of Sheffield, CILASS (Centre for Inquiry-based Learning in the Arts and Social Sciences).
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Popularity: 14%

From a notecard inworld:

CALL FOR PAPERS
Journal of Virtual Worlds Research
Special Issue: Culture of Virtual Worlds
Deadline: September 30, 2008
Publication Date: November 20, 2008

Guest Editors
Mark Bell, Indiana University
Mia Consalvo, Ohio University

Early users of virtual worlds trumpeted their potential to bring together like-minded groups to create community, to encourage social activism, and to explore facets of identity. Over the past 20 years, we have seen virtual worlds develop from text-based to graphical, and from 2D to 3D interactive spaces. Some spaces have focused primarily on game-related activities, from MUD through Ultima Online and World of Warcraft, while others have concentrated on social aspects of being, allowing users to define their own goals, and often create many parts of the spaces they inhabit–from LambdaMoo to The Palace and Second Life. Virtual worlds have also become big business at the same time as some worlds remain resolutely tied to different goals. Yet what of the cultures that have grown up in, around, and through virtual worlds in this same time period? What do we know about that culture, or more accurately, those cultures and how to define them?

Individuals, groups, and corporations are exploring the potentials of virtual worlds, and what is created in that process says as much about our everyday lives as it does about our times spent online. But what do we know? Because of their richly detailed spaces, virtual worlds tend to encourage specific sorts of participants and players, along with expectations about behavior and culture. Yet at the same time, we cannot know how participants will create a livable space, develop a unique culture, until it happens. How is that process occurring in today’s virtual worlds? What do we know about past virtual worlds to guide us? We are slowly learning about how identity shifts and mutates online, yet isn’t as free-floating as early theorists claimed. What of users who are in game-centric versus non-game centric places–how does game versus non-game make a difference in who uses the space, how, and why? Likewise, we now see virtual worlds with transnational user bases. How does that impact the culture, the creation, and the experience of virtual worlds. What happens when virtual worlds emerge, when they expand quickly, and when they die, either slowly or suddenly? What happens to users and how do they make sense of those experiences? How do developers play a role in managing all those expectations, and how much can they actually control? These questions are only the tip of iceberg, just as today’s virtual worlds are at the forefront of emergent design of 3D spaces.

This special issue of the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research is dedicated to exploring the issue of culture in virtual worlds. We welcome articles from academic researchers and practitioners in areas such as communications, sociology, psychology, anthropology, information systems, political science, game studies and cultural studies.

Topics of interest include (but not limited to):
• Definitions of Virtual Cultures
• Ethnographies of Virtual Worlds
• Social mechanics and networking in Virtual worlds
• Historical development of Virtual Worlds
• Identity
• Differing goals of play versus non-play centric spaces
• Emergent practices, player-generated content, activities
• Dynamics of economies
• “Serious” uses of Virtual Worlds
• Transnational game spaces, player groups

Guidelines and Deadlines
We welcome submissions in the form of essays, papers, original research, interactive online exhibits with accompanying detailed descriptions, and other forms of scholarship.
For specific submission instructions visit: http://jvwresearch.org

Deadline for Submission: September 30, 2008
Publication: November 29, 2008

For further information contact:

Mark Bell, Indiana U, typewriter@gmail.com
Mia Consalvo, Ohio U, consalvo@ohio.edu

About the Journal
The Journal of Virtual Worlds Research is an online, open access academic journal that adheres to the highest standards of peer review and engages established and emerging scholars from around the world. The Journal of Virtual Worlds Research is a transdisciplinary journal that engages a wide spectrum of scholarship and welcomes contributions from the many disciplines and approaches that intersect virtual worlds research.

Popularity: 14%

Kids5B – Celebrating 5 years of kid avatars in Second Life
Press release June 21st 2008 – Written by Johnathan Raymaker

Read this online at : http://www.kids5b.net
Download as PDF from : http://www.kids5b.net/pdf/kids5b-press-release-june-21.pdf

During this years Second Life birthday celebrations (SL5B) one of the most highlighted communities in Second Life will present themselves on two highly entertaining and informative Sims. Thanks to the initial exclusion of the kid avatar community from SL5B by Linden Labs, individuals from around the diverse kid avatar community have come together to create an amazing presentation of the many activities these Second Life residents engage in.

Kids5B has attracted a good number of existing kid avatar groups that already have a firm base in Second life. The Goonies, an adventurous group of kid avatars have created a home base in the typical style from the movie. The Boy Scouts of Second Life have laid out a wonderful camp area. Various adoption agencies have setup display points informing the public of their activities. Dance and music clubs that cater to the kid avatar community have also shown up to present themselves to the larger Second Life public.

One of the biggest joys of being a kid avatar is the lack of adult restrictions when it comes to expressing your imagination. This community is thriving with great builders and artists and these aspects of the community have their place too at Kids5B. Take for instance the magical forest atop the hill, with hidden references to many fairytales or the delightful Glow Garden that lets you step out of this world for a few minutes. Don’t miss out on the awesome skate park, allowing everyone visiting to have a go at some great moves on the board.

The entire Kids5B Sim build up is a tribute to the creativity of this community, as expressed in the Aztec area, the downtown build up, the old European village or the fantasy rich kids village. Within these built up area’s a great number of exhibitions of arts takes place. Rai Fargis has his Rag Dolls displayed; Marianne McCann has her latest series of SL photography set out.

Of course, being a kid is about fun too. And Kids5B provided entertainment in droves. The main stage will be the place to come see the many live performances arranged for Kids5B, with a great line up during the weeks including The Mudslingers, Janor Slichter, Robie Bloch, Nick99 Razor and many more. Get on one of the trains or use the rafts the go round the sims. Grab a skateboard and show off your skills. Get on that Ferris wheel and see the area from up high. And for the ultimate fun, go through the ‘transmogrifier’ and be transformed into a kid avatar for a day, and experience the world through the eyes of your smaller self.

Last but not least, a number of the exhibits focus on one of the most needed things about the kid avatar community: Information. Thanks to sensationalist journalism the general Second Life population and beyond have been misinformed about the context that this community operates within. You will find displays by kids about the impact of their role-play within a Second Life family, and displays in which kid avatars explain why they became a kid in the first place. One display is devoted as gallery to the large number of web logs actively maintained by members of the kid avatar community.

We invite you to come and experience our celebration of 5 years of kid avatars in Second Life with us during the fifth Second Life Birthday celebration. It will be one event you don’t want to miss!

For more information and event-scheduling see: http://www.kids5b.net

Or contact one of the following residents in world: Rai Fargis, Johnathan Raymaker, Sage Kostenbaum, Koffeekid Smalls, Skippy Beresford, Daniel Regenbogen or Sacha Mange.

Popularity: 19%

From: metanomics How to find young shareholders on Second Life Quote from the site - ArcelorMittal is quite some company. It is the world’s largest steelmaker. Lakshmi N. Mittal, the Indian London-based billionaire industrialist as Wikipedia says, acquired and merged steel companies all over the world, until now with great success. However, there is a point of concern: who wants to be shareholder of the company? Young people are not interested, so it seems. Can the company seduce them using Second Life?

From: BusinessWeek McKinsey’s new article on open innovation Quote from the site - I just read the McKinsey Quarterly’s just-published article, “What’s New in Open Innovation?” — it’s available online. Most of the article features an overview of what’s been going on in terms of businesses co-creating with customers and consumers. You know, “user-generated content” or “crowd-sourcing.”

From: Discovery Space 10 Spacey Things to do in Second Life Quote from the site - Rocketing to the International Space Station, seeing an asteroid wallop Mars or witnessing the Big Bang might seem like things you’d do in a dream. Thankfully, there’s Second Life – a virtual world inhabited and created by its residents – that offers a chance to do all of these and more… for free.

From: PRLog Metanomics Begins Second Season on SLCN.TV Quote from the site - Metanomics, the web’s premier program about the business and policy of virtual worlds, begins an exciting second season on Monday, June 23rd at Noon PST. For the kick-off program Metanomics host Robert Bloomfield (Beyers Sellers in Second Life) features USC’s Second Life and the Public Good Community Challenge, with guests Douglas Thomas (Doctor Ludovico In Second Life), Associate Professor at the USC School of Communication, and Rik Panganiban (Rik Riel in Second Life) from Global Kids.

From: EEtimes Second Life creator: Virtual worlds achieving real results Quote from the site - Virtual worlds might seem like kid stuff, but they could end up making big contributions to society, according to Cory Ondrejka, senior vice president of digital strategies at EMI Music, told the Freescale Technology Forum in Orlando, Fla.

From: Electronics Weekly Warren Savage On: Our Virtual Future Quote from the site - A couple weeks ago I found myself standing on the floor of the Design Automation Conference in a circle of old colleagues, exchanging business cards and being updated on each other’s careers and lives. One of our group quipped that “the people who come here never change, only the logos on the business cards.” An astute comment nervously recognized as such by everyone in our increasingly greying group.

From: Ewing Fashion Agency EFA Celebrates Second Life’s Fifth Birthday Quote from the site - From June 23rd to July 7th, Second Life will be celebrating its fifth anniversary. To mark this event, a number of designated sims were allocated to exhibitors. Ewing Fashion Agency’s application was approved and with access to the “fashion” sim with less than three days before the sim opening, the race to complete the ehxibition was on.

From: Computer World Have your avatar call my avatar: Doing business virtually Quote from the site - What do Xerox printers, Fenway Park, green creatures and an executive zipping around with a personal jetpack have in common? Are you stumped? You might not be if you had an avatar.

From: E-Access Blog Charity Embraces Social Networks And Second Life Quote from the site - A leading charity is using a wide range of social networking and multimedia sites - Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, YouTube and iTunes - to provide support and information to parents of disabled children and help them contact each other.
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Popularity: 18%

Evanston, IL – 06/20/2008 – AVATRAIT, the leading advocate of the emerging genre of “Digital Impressionist” art from the virtual world of Second Life, is very pleased to announce that they’ve been invited to be part of the Rinascimento Virtuale show in Florence, Italy this fall.

Rinascimento Virtuale is an exhibit focusing on the art of virtual worlds, which will be featured at the Museum of Natural History of Florence from October 21, 2008 through January 7, 2009. This is a part of, and is opening in conjunction with, the third staging of the Festival della Creatività, an international art event that will take place October 23-26, 2008 at the historic Fortessa da Basso, and various satellite venues around Florence.

Greg Houston (Track Hax in Second Life), the founder of Avatrait, will be making a presentation during the Festival, detailing the growth of “Digital Impressionism”, how the Avatrait Gallery arose as the premier site for this emerging genre within S.L., and how they have bridged the real and virtual worlds by bringing this new art (via high-quality framed prints sold through their web site) to a wider real-world audience.

Avatrait artists will be both represented by framed originals in the show and via a video production which will be a program element of the art fest. All of the Avatrait art featured in Rinascimento Virtuale will be donated for a charity benefit at the conclusion of the exhibit. In another first, a hardcover book will be released which will both detail the birth of this exciting new genre, and document the Avatrait artists’ works in this ground-breaking exhibition.

The Avatrait Gallery is in Second Life here and on the web at http://avatrait.com.

Popularity: 21%

Group Notice From: Autumn CiscoSystems

Cisco Chairman and CEO, John Chambers will be at the Cisco Bandwidth Stage in Second Life on June 24th at 11 AM SLT/2 AM Eastern to talk about the power of collaboration. Seating is first come first serve!

If you can’t attend in Second Life, it will also be streamed live on the Cisco Virtual World Blog at http://blogs.cisco.com/virtualworlds.

Second Life URL.

Popularity: 21%

From: SL iReports Blood is Thicker. Quote from the site - In Second Life there are many opportunities for Role Playing. Old West, Victorian Era, Domination/Submission and others. One of them is based on Vampires. The players in the game say their interest is similar to other super natural entertainment. Dracon Dyszel, ‘Clan Voice’ says, “Tell me do we all not have an affinity for the mythical?” Information from Bloodlines indicates there are five objectives in the game. Become a Vampire, by being drained and then replenishing your blood to full capacity.

From: Second Life Blog Play your own radio station with MediaMaster Quote from the site - I love followup. As Resident Enlightenment Manager, one of my prime responsibilities is to share useful + fun (usefun!) info that helps solve your problems and makes your Second Life smoother… and overall moar awesome.

From: Mary Mary Quite Contrary Meet the Author in Second Life Quote from the site - Cay Horstmann will be talking about his new book Core Java Volume II - Advanced Features and its predecessor Core Java, Volume I in Second Life at 9 a.m. PT

From: Learning technology teacher development blog for ELT Teaching Speaking in Second Life Quote from the site - For me, one of the main blocks to really developing online language learning courses has been the inability to supply real communicative speaking practice. VOIP software like Skype has certainly pushed the bounds of what is possible, as has the development of more effective web based video conferencing platforms, but in my opinion the biggest step towards making this possible has been the developments made in virtual worlds like There.com and Second Life….

From: eightbar Wimbledon 08 in Second Life, the build progresses Quote from the site - With Wimbledon looming large and already qualifying starting this week you may think we are leaving it a little late to complete the build and presence in Second Life. In many ways you would be right. However, we are all giving it some time, knowing full well that we will also build during the event.

From: The Daily Reveille University establishes virtual presence in Second Life Quote from the site - A recent Internet phenomenon has taken universities, businesses and even the Federal Reserve by storm. Second Life, a virtual world created by Linden Research, Inc., allows people to create avatars - virtual identities - to interact with that world and its residents.

From: SLiReports Are Virtual Gamers Mocking the American Cancer Society? Quote from the site - Is an outlandish mockery of the American Cancer Society happening right now? A truly bizarre thing has happened; it appears people have flipped their noggins and have forgotten this serious battle against Cancer.

From: Second Life Blog Who are Lindens? - Video Tip of the Week #37 Quote from the site - “Lindens” (not to be confused with Linden dollars, or L$) are employees of Linden Lab, the company behind Second Life. We’re inworld as avatars too, and I advocate us to experience SL so that we both (1) share the enjoyment and (2) understand what’s important to you.

From: Firefox news When Virtual Meets Reality: WoW, Second Life May Become Targets of Terrorists, CIA Quote from the site - That’s how some are viewing the United States government’s new plan to search out real-life terrorists in MMORPGs like World of Warcraft and Second Life.

From: WSJ Arcelor Ventures Into Virtual World Quote from the site - ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker by volume, plans to hold its first shareholder meeting in the virtual Internet world of Second Life on Tuesday as it attempts to reach out to younger shareholders.

From: Educause Connect 7 Things You Should Know About Second Life Quote from the site - Second Life is a virtual world with tens of millions of square meters of virtual lands, more than 13 million “residents,” and a thriving economy. Large numbers of colleges and universities—or, in some cases, individual departments or faculty—are active in Second Life, not only for academic purposes but also for campus visits, recruiting activities for prospective students, and fundraising.

From: Savage Minds Ethnography of the Virtual Quote from the site - I just finished reading Tom Boellstorff’s ethnography, Coming of Age in Second Life, which I first learned about on Anthropologi.info last year. I have to admit coming to this book with a certain degree of antipathy towards its subject. It always seemed to me that playing Second Life was much more cumbersome, time consuming, and less entertaining than reading the real estate or personals sections on Craig’s List.

Popularity: 21%

From: Business Wire The Tech Museum of Innovation Announces the Opening of the Tech Virtual Test Zone Gallery Quote from the site - The Tech Museum of Innovation (The Tech), one of the nation’s premiere science and technology museums, today announced the opening of The Tech Virtual Test Zone, a new area in the museum showcasing the world’s first hands-on, interactive exhibits conceptualized and developed originally in the virtual world of Second Life®. These new exhibits are the result of The Tech’s virtual exhibit design initiative and competition called The Tech Virtual, which was announced in December 2007 and aims to revolutionize the way new museum exhibitions are developed.

From: Business Wire Vollee Debuts Second Life on Mobile Quote from the site - Second Life, the 3D virtual world platform created by Linden Lab, can now be accessed from mobile devices. For the first time, Residents can explore the entire virtual world from their handsets via a free beta application available at http://www.vollee.com/secondlife. The new service is powered by Vollee, the 3G streaming services provider, and anyone with a qualified 3G or Wi-Fi enabled handset can easily download a thin-client to their device and log-in using their existing Second Life accounts.

From: iReports Virtual Nazi griefs Jewish SL residents Quote from the site - On Sunday morning, June 1, Anais Atlantis logged on to Second Life to shop for virtual Judaica at The Jewish Store on Agila. At the “Official Store of Second Life Synagogue and TMA Jewish Neighborhood,” Anais found everything a Jewish gift shop should have: Star of David necklaces, Hanukkah menorahs (candelabrum), Mezuzahs (doorpost cases) and Tallitot (prayer shawls).

From: Game Life Paralyzed Man ‘Walks’ In Second Life Quote from the site - Researchers at Japan’s Keio University have created an experimental headset designed to monitor brain waves that allowed a man who had been paralyzed for more than 30 years to control a Second Life avatar using only his thoughts.

From: The force that through… Beauty in Second Life… Quote from the site - Today I was down loading the new edition of Sculptie paint. This is a software tool for making irregular shaped objects called “sculpted prims”in Second Life. The creator is Cel Edman (at least that is his avatar’s name) and today I briefly chatted with him and visited two of his second life sites.

From: Gina Hughes San Jose State sets up campus in Second Life Quote from the site - Many universities have an online presence, but San Jose State University is doing something different by setting up a virtual campus in Second Life, the popular virtual world everyone’s still buzzing about. Instead of offering the usual webcast courses, or podcasts, the school has set up a virtual university in Second Life that spreads across 16 digital acres filled with buildings designed for students in the Library Sciences Department.

From: The White Room Come celebrate Sweden’s National Day in Second Life (June 6) Quote from the site - On June 6 Swedes celebrate their national day. This year the celebrations in Second Life are going to be extra special — three days of shows and activities by some of Second Life’s most talented artists.

From: Mercury News Pizarro: Tech Museum gets virtual life - and real, global publicity Quote from the site - A virtual world needs virtual museums, and San Jose’s Tech Museum of Innovation has jumped on board the Second Life bandwagon. The Tech Virtual Test Zone is a gallery opening Wednesday at the downtown San Jose museum showcasing prototypes of amateur artists’ and designers’ exhibits that were conceived in Second Life, the Internet-based world developed by Linden Lab of San Francisco that lets users create the environment.

From: The Seattle Times Real work grows in virtual world Quote from the site - To save money in these tough times, universities, conference planners and global companies have started holding gatherings for far-flung employees and students in the online world known as Second Life.

From: reportonbusiness.com Time to embrace your avatar Quote from the site - Gerri Sinclair is a true Renaissance woman. In fact, she was a Renaissance drama scholar before turning her mind to computers, entrepreneurship, and thought leadership about on-line avatars in virtual worlds.

From: Business Wire AMD Foundation Launches ”AMD Changing the Game” Quote from the site - AMD today announced the launch of AMD Changing the Game, the first initiative of the newly formed AMD Foundation. The AMD Changing the Game program is intended to improve critical technical and life skills by teaching kids to develop digital games with social content. The program is rooted in AMD’s commitment and experience in supporting education with the company’s passion and expertise in the gaming industry. The program’s launch accompanies AMD’s sponsorship and participation at the Fifth Annual Games for Change Festival to be held June 3 - 4 at Parsons The New School for Design in New York City.

From: The Cindy Kesey Show The Plague of Popularity: Do You Take Your Second Life Friends for Granted? Quote from the site - I don’t know about you, but I spent many of my teen years filled with angst and consumed by a persistent desire to be part of the popular crowd. It was unfortunate I was plagued with parents who thought expensive name-brand clothing was extravagant and unnecessary. I say unfortunate because–probably like many of you–I grew up in an era known for its rampant materialism and shallow definitions of success.

From: SLWTF Satisfy your inner geek Quote from the site - I’ve always been a bit of a science geek, but only just a bit. I enjoy a good episode of Novabut I don’t have the DVR set to record it. I know what an astronomical units and an Oort clouds are, but I can’t name all the moons of Jupiter.

From: Second Life Blog “Inside the Lab” Podcast, a Discussion on Education in Second Life Quote from the site - I had the pleasure of talking with Pathfinder Linden and Claudia Linden about some of the fascinating education projects taking place in Second Life. These two expert Lindens share some of what they’ve learned working with educators inworld and at conferences, as well as from participation with some of the groups described in the podcast (see links, below.)

From: Second Life Blog Let friends & groups edit your objects - Video Tip of the Week #36 Quote from the site - Sharing is caring! (Or something like that.) And a big benefit of Second Life is being able to collaborate with friends & groups of people you share interests with — live, in realtime.

Popularity: 30%

From: Linux Insider The Tangible Value of Virtual Money Quote from the site - The Linden Dollar, Second Life’s currency, may not have much value — it takes 270 of them to equal a U.S. dollar — but it forms the basis of an economy. That economy supports a living for some and is wildly lucrative for an elite few.

From: Savoir Hair Pudge - Awkward in Jr. High Quote from the site - The Awkward in Jr High style is casual, updo with the hair piled just below the crown and thick strands falling out the sides. The face is edged with soft, straight-cut bangs with long framing pieces falling in front of the ears.

From: The Anglican Church in Second Life A personal reflection on the meeting in Guildford Quote from the site - On the 24th of May a collection of eminent theologians, lawyers, communicators and internet experts came together on the invitation of the Bishop of Guildford to discuss the Anglican Ministry in Second Life. This is my personal reflection on that incredible meeting.

From: Massively Second Life daily news Quote from the site - Play2train — Showing off the virtual Elks Rehabilitation hospital.
Buy traffic — An apparently doomed startup business model.

From: design news Second Life Utilized to Design a Personal Mass Transit System Quote from the site - In October 2007, I made the prophetic prediction in my blog: “Second Life Will Revolutionize Engineering Design”. This statement resulted after several months of research on computer-generated immersive 3-D universes, which culminated in an in-print Design News article, “Second Life: A Virtual Universe for Real Engineering”.

From: The White Room NPIRL at the Swedish Embassy in Second Life Quote from the site - How many times have you heard the name PetGirl (Tina) Bergman in this blog? Well if you think I am going on about her and duplicate myself to much like an old drunk you better stop read this blog because this will go on:) She is fantastic person that really fights for SL from a residential point of view.

From: The Learning Circuits Blog Second Life Training? Quote from the site - More specifically: In what situations, do you believe it makes sense to develop a learning experience that will be delivered within Second Life?

From: Faculty Ideas about Technology Second Life in Practice Quote from the site - Lately many universities have discovered Second Life’s potential for education and have taken actions to integrate this immersive environment into their practices. Among some of the practices, University of Leicester in the UK has created a virtual zoo in Second Life, where students learn ecology in an interactive fashion.

From: Ambling in Second Life Are You Going to ExitReality? Quote from the site - Naming a product must be hellishly difficult, mustn’t it? So many factors to take into account. Consider, for example, those infamous automobiles where the name sounded fine in one language but meant things like “tiny male member” or “fecal matter” in others.

From: Slacker Online Product Review: Second Life Quote from the site - Lately a significant internet craze has focused upon a virtual online world called “Second Life“. Second life is created by a company called Linden Lab which I suppose hopes to “monetize” it or some other such ill-defined voudu affectation.

From: Quote from the site -

From: sered second life Second Life and EVE Online: to game or not to game Quote from the site - Second Life is a social, virtual 3D world, as most of you undoubtedly know. It offers a means to act out your creativity and fantasies - within certain (legal or ethical) boundaries, these days.

From: Second Life DEN Mark Your Calendars - June Events Quote from the site - Can you believe it?!?! Tomorrow is June 1st! I know that some of us are already on summer ‘time’ (don’t like to call it ‘vacation’ since most of us ‘work’ during the summer! LOL), others are about to, and yet others (like myself) have a WHOLE month to go before we reach that time!

From: social media When corporate employees hang out in Second Life Quote from the site - LA Times: Sun staff and executives hang out in Second Life.

From: abc6.com Drunk Driving Victim Using Near-Death Experience to Educate Quote from the site - Jade Combie isn’t shy about showing what happened to her the night Joshua Lipton nearly killed her. But dealing with the the injuries is only half her battle.

Popularity: 31%

Join us at the ISTE Campfire Rings on Thursday, May 29th, at 6 PM SLT for a discussion about the educational platforms of US presidential candidates. Moderators will share tips for researching the educational platforms of presidential candidates followed by an informal discussion of their platforms. Second Life URL

Popularity: 26%

From: OhioNet Getting a Second Life: An Introduction to the Metaverse for Libraries Quote from the site - Laura Solomon is the Library Services Manager for OPLIN and former Web Applications Manager for Cleveland Public Library. She has been doing web development and design for over ten years, in both libraries and as an independent consultant.

From: Rezzable Surfline’s Treasures Quote from the site - Even the most relaxing beach can be busy with events. For the past three weeks Surfline has been rolling out the freebies. A couple of weeks ago was a lovely golden & orange strapless sundress, normally valued over $250L. Last week, rich chocolate pair of boardies that looks just as good on the ladies. This week,a beautiful sundress, with bursting blue print.

From: Spindrift SciEye welcomes Phoenix lander to Mars! Quote from the site - The rl [real life] earthlings got to watch Phoenix in parachuted descent after entry and from its camera after landing; we NASA JPL, Ames, & CoLab worker avatars, plus the independents of the ISM [International Space Museum] got a better view as we watched Phoenix arrive and land on Martian terrain at Explorer Island.

From: Rezzable Copyright & the Garden Quote from the site - It was brought to our attention the p_OO_f Gallery has placed for sale some photos of the Rezzable Garden of NPIRL Delights. This has upset the artists which work was on sale: they were never asked for permission for the sales of their works. Neither were they given proper attribution for the time and effort they put into the builds. Rather, the seller claimed the items on sale as ‘copyrighted to me’.

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From: Send2Press Museum of Robots in Second Life Announces the Build-A-Robot Competition Quote from the site - Museum of Robots (www.MuseumofRobots.com) in Second Life announces the “Build-a-Robot” Competition, and invites all Second Life residents to participate. According to the organizers, “Our goal is to explore what a robot is, how it can be expressed within the parameters of Second Life, and to encourage creativity and originality. Our definition of ‘robot’ is unlimited: any creation that the designer thinks can be called a robot is acceptable.”

From: The Austrailian Old funds for new worlds Quote from the site - Font Size: Decrease Increase Print Page: Print Mahesh Sharma | May 29, 2008
VIRTUAL worlds and computer games are not everyone’s idea of art, but these technologies come into their own when you take into account it’s not just what you see and hear but what you do and how you interact with them that creates the art.

From: CollegeDegrees.com 50 Tips and Tricks to Create a Learning Space in Second Life Quote from the site - The popular virtual world of Second Life attracts online gamers, former Sim City addicts, entrepreneurs-in-training, and tech-savvy teachers. The educational possibilities through Second Life allow teachers and employers to reach out to students beyond their traditional classrooms and school districts, expose young children to global issues and new friends around the world, design their own avatars and environments for highly customized training sessions and interactive discussions, practice real-world skills and manage real-life situations in a safe environment, and most of all keep students engaged in a technologically-driven society.
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