Virtual Outworlding

How to get into Second Life without really trying

========================

New Year's Eve

=============================

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Education: Social immersion for language learning

Immersion for language learning

Virtual language students trade TV for lesson practice – Hypergrid Business:

"Languagelab, creator of English City based in Second Life, have found that students spend on average 15 hours a week practicing in English City excluding scheduled class time. Surveys reveal that time spent in English City replaces leisure activities such as watching TV or surfing the net. This evidence strongly supports Languagelab’s belief that classes with engagement at their core are far more enjoyable for students."

==========================
Yeah. There is a catch here. Immersion has been used in language learning for many years. Started long before the digital form of virtual reality. But Second Life offers an expanded opportunity. Immersed with native speakers of the language, not just for class, but for social activities. You can do that in the physical world, of course. If you (or your parents) can afford it. You can spend a summer in France.

Or you can visit with people in France in a virtual reality. That turns out not to be classwork, but a leisure activity. You hang out with people speaking French just as you hang out with people speaking English. Can you learn French that way?

Well, little French children have been learning French that way for -- well, ever since there was French. They don't even notice. They think they are just hanging out with the other kids. But they are really learning from experience.
Virtual worlds give experience, the web only gives information
BTW. Did you notice that language-learning is a social activity? Have you noticed how often social has been turning up in talk about education or media? Have you thought about how neatly the virtual reality experience fits into that picture?
===================
Background

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_immersion

Language immersion is a method of teaching a second language (also called L2, or the target language) in which the target language is used for instruction. Unlike a more traditional language course, where the target language is simply the subject material, language immersion uses the target language as a teaching tool, surrounding or "immersing" students in the second language. In-class activities, such as math, science, social studies, and history, and those outside of the class, such as meals or everyday tasks, are conducted in the target language.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlitz_International
Berlitz teaches languages using the Berlitz Method of Language Instruction. This "method" pioneered the direct method and what later became popularized as the audio lingual method. The direct method, as opposed to the traditional grammar translation method, advocates teaching through the target language only - the rationale being that students will be able to work out grammatical rules from the input language provided, without necessarily being able to explain the rules overtly, while the audio-lingual approach advocates listening and speaking, rather than reading and writing, as the main mode of input and practice. Many years ago, this approach was seen as odd in a time when language-acquisition was seen as an intellectual or academic pursuit which required a knowledge of and familiarity with overt grammatical description. However, the Berlitz mix of direct method and audio-lingual and communicative approach became popular with adults who needed to become functional in a foreign language for business or professional reasons without learning grammar.

Kit: How do I meet people? Profiles Yours and theirs

Profiles. Yours and theirs --
Tell people about your interests
Look for people who share your interests.

"How do I meet people?" Common question I get from new people. I look on the person's profile and it is blank.
============================
Your Profile
When you meet someone in Second Life, they will probably look at your profile. If it is blank you will look like a very dull person. So one thing you can easily do is give yourself an interesting profile. Tell people what you are interested in. Someone with the same interests will see you immediately as an interesting person.

To add to your profile, right-click on your avatar and select My Profile. Then look down to the bottom and click Edit Profile. You can write in the two white panels under the headings: Second Life and Real World. If you really want to find friends, best tell about your genuine interests.

What are you looking for in Second Life? (Exploring is a valid answer.)
What are your interests in the "Real World?"

The squares on the left side are places to put pictures. You won't have pictures at the start, so let's wait on that.

Homepage: If you have a website or blog, put the link in the white bar.

Show me in Search results -- Check this if you want to meet people. Otherwise only people already on your friends list can find you.

You can skip the other items for now -- except for the bottom line. Be sure to click on Save Changes
=============================
Profiles of other people
You have already figured out the next step: check the profiles of other people. To check when you meet people or see people around you. You right-click on the avatar and select View Profile. You can also see the profile of someone who types in chat. Open chat history and click on the name Look for the Profile button.

Or you can get it from the list of people nearby. To get that list, click on the button on the right edge with the two heads. Click on the NEARBY tab at the top. To check a profile, hover the cursor over the name. Click on the right-pointing arrow

For people who are not around you, you can get the profile by typing the name in search.

Caution: the self-descriptions you see in the profile may not be true. But what the person writes will tell you something about the person.

Groups: If this person seems to have interests like yours, maybe you will want to join some of the groups the person is in. Click on a group name to see the group profile. If the group offers open enrollment, you will see a join button. You can click that to join the group

Bottom buttons, Contact
Add Friend : Invite person to your friends list:
IM: Contact the person in IM: click IM button.
Call: Contact the person in a voice call.

Teleport: Offer to teleport the person to you location: Teleport button
CAUTION: Many people consider such an offer offensive unless they have agreed first. Some people will drop you from their contacts list or block you if you make an offer without their permission.

You can also teleport to the other person's location if they have given you permission to find them on the map.
See the inworld Hobo Kit at Cookie island: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cookie/138/112/22

---------------
Picks Tab. People put notes, pictures, and landmarks here about places they want to recommend. If the person seems interesting, you may want to ask them about some of their picks.

========================
What you will want to know later
Create, Edit Picks

Click on the My Picks tab at the top of the Profile window

To add a new pick, scroll to bottom, click on + sign, click on New Pick. To edit a pick, click on the right pointing arrow. button at right of the pick panel. you want to change. Click on the Edit button at the bottom of the resulting window.

Thursday, Dec 30. Aley Arai Privateer Space Sim content Arcadia library

Thursday

========================

This schedule is posted by 8 AM SLT. It will be on my posters (Cookie and Rockcliffe I) for a while. If it is not there when you want to see it, click on the poster and scroll down. You can subscribe to this blog with Google Reader or any RSS feed.

Click below for other schedules:

How to get into Second Life without really trying

========================

Aley Arai Privateer Space Sim content launch party at the Arcadia library !

Free copies of this content will be available the public. We're celebrating the release of this new collection by exhibiting some of the pieces available in a special expo and by interviews with Arcadia herself.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cheonma/202/143/75

Thursday the 30th at 1PM

Arcadia chatting with Immy on Thursday the 30th at 1PM, followed by the music of AM Quar at 2PM, or at 7.30 PM on Thursday.

=====================

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

OpenSim: OpenSim gets a Voice

OpenSim gets a Voice

KnowSense :: Whisper Voice for OpenSim source released:
"The 'Whisper' voice system for OpenSim has been released as open source and is available right now. Whisper is a tight integration of the popular Mumble voice-over-IP code with OpenSim for use with most OpenSim viewers. I've been using Whisper for some time now and wrote about it here - it provides far and away the best voice solution available for OpenSim with full support for lip sync and speaker indication, so having this now fully available to the community should really hasten the adoption of OpenSim as a virtual world platform for serious uses such as education, meetings, collaboration and training."

Whisper - New Voice Solution for OpenSim
http://blog.knowsense.co.uk/blog/_archives/2010/12/27/4713239.html

-----------------------------------------
Whisper Source Code is Available
The source code for the client and the server are available for download, both GPL licensed. In addition, binaries are available for client and server.

Whisper is a Mumble based implementation of a voice system for OpenSim. The server consists of an OpenSim region module and Murmur, the Mumble voice server. The region module is named MurmurVoiceModule and communicates with Murmur in order to open channels and to register users.
=============================

VComm releases Whisper voice code for OpenSim – Hypergrid Business:

"Grid owners with proprietary viewers can now add high-quality voice to their worlds

Not yet included in Hippo, Imprudence — users must download add-on

This week, vComm Solutions of Switzerland released the source code for Whisper, a high-quality voice option for OpenSim. Whisper supports directional voice and lip synching, and is more stable and clear than FreeSwitch, the only other voice system for OpenSim."

Media: Buzzwords: Browser-based, Social, Mobile.

Buzzwords: Browser-based, Social, Mobile.

I have mostly stopped using the term "social media." From now on, I think all media is social. If there is an exception, I will call it "unsocial media."
-------------------------------
Read what Botgirl has to say:
Botgirl's Second Life Diary: Browser-Based Strategy is Essential for Virtual World Growth:
"...browser-based access to virtual worlds in conjunction with social network integration is the most credible light at the end of the tunnel. The way to move virtual worlds from their current isolated backwater into the integrated mainstream is by making them as seamlessly accessible and usable as every other category in the Pew Report. This will also require mobile-compatible clients, since mobile internet use will surpass computer-based use within the next few years."
-----------------
Yep. That pulls it together. The Geeks don't inherit the earth, after all. We can inherit virtual reality, sure. If we don't mind social isolation. Well, actually, we don't mind social isolation. We are quite happy with our digital toys.

But happiness does not buy money. It does not even buy new tech toys. So if we want our new tech toys, we need to think outside of the box. Outside of the Virtual Reality box, that is. We need to think to the outworld. Out where the people are. Out where the money is.

Like I said before. Tech does not spend money. People spend money. Tech is just a tool to make it easier for them to spend money on what you offer.

Future of SL is beyond e-tech. Now on to s-tech

Browser-based, Social, Mobile, Second Life. What does that make you think of? Makes me think of connecting Second Life to facebook. What would that take?

Tune in another day when we hear the Yes-Butters say:

"Yes but it wont work because you can't really embed the Second Life viewer in Facebook, and they wouldn't let you do it anyway."

========================

Virtual Worlds movin' on up -- to the browser!

Blog theme

Second Life Blogs: When will SL make it so we can chat via...:

"3rd parties have done this in the past. Why doesn't LL make an offical web to SL chat and IM feature? I'm at work in rl and can't login, but have important business to do in SL."

12/29/10 Aley Arai Privateer Space Sim content launch party

Wednesday

========================

Click below for other schedules:

How to get into Second Life without really trying

========================

3 PM SLT Aley Arai Privateer Space Sim content launch party at the Arcadia library !

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cheonma/202/143/75

On Wednesday at 4 PM SLT, Arcadia will be chatting with her friend Immy (aka as imnotgoing Sideways).

Thursday the 30th at 1PM

Arcadia again chatting with Immy on Thursday the 30th at 1PM, followed by the music of AM Quar at 2PM, or at 7.30 PM on Thursday.

=====================

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Art: UWA People's Choice, voting is now open

UWA People's Choice, voting is now open

The University of Western Australia in Second Life: Keeping it Real in the PCA:
"The People's Choice (PC) Award voting is now open. There is a new voting system,... The new system allows you to vote for as many pieces as you like, rating them on a scale of 1 to 3. You vote by touching the name board at each entry.

Last day of voting for the December round is
Friday, Jan 7."
==================
Notes
Prizes alert: UWA Art Challenge- Creative collaboration

Media: Future of television now up for grabs. Are you up to grabbing?

Future of television now up for grabs
Are you up to grabbing?

MIT Technology Review: The Internet Tore Through Newspapers, Magazines, And Music... Now Poised For Television:
"Even without Google's contribution, the consumer electronics industry has already transformed the TV set into a computer that can be connected to the Internet. That means the future of television is now up for grabs: the screen, the industry, even the meaning of the word. Just as the Internet tore through newspapers, magazines, and music, it's now poised to make television the media battleground of the coming decade.."

Content is the key.
And there are lots of people in Second Life who know how to produce content. I probably could look down my friends list and find 20 people who are producing videos and streaming video content. They are making commercials, short stories, comedy segments, musical videos, news stories, feature stories--you name it. If you have seen that kind of work on television, you could find that kind of work in Second Life.

And the best of that work -- does it match the quality you find on television? God, I hope not! I hope it is not that bad.

But let's say it is the same quality. Let's compare in dollars per minute. The cost (for now) is a tiny fraction of the cost for something produced in a TV studio. That means you don't have to produce for a mass market. You can produce for any market you please. You can produce to promote your own products.

Creative Collaboration
You don't have to do it all by yourself..

Need writers? Visit Cookie:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cookie/138/112/22

Join Inksters or Written Word (join poster for both groups is at Town Center on Cookie)

Writers alert! A VIRTUAL SHORT PLAY BUFFET

Need videographers?
https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Category:Machinimatographers
Education Conference- VWBPE 2011 Call for Proposals and Machinima

Need a theatrical company?
OEDIPUS REX by AVATAR REPERTORY THEATER
Contact Ada Radius or Thinkerer Melville

12/28/10 TerryLynn Melody Lauren Short Poetry Workshop

Tuesday

========================

This schedule is posted about 8 AM SLT. It will be on my posters (Cookie and Rockcliffe I) for a while. If it is not there when you want to see it, click on the poster and scroll down. You can subscribe to this blog with Google Reader or any RSS feed.

Click below for other schedules:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cookie/133/238/22

========================

4 pm California time. (Note early show)

JWheels Presents TerryLynn Melody Live @ Lauren’s place

TerryLynn is a professional musician and songwriter who has been featured on National Public Radio, Clear Channel Radio, and Fox Television. Her live shows span folk, country, rock and blues, performing both her originals songs as well as an eclectic mix of covers from many genre's and era's.

==================================

5:00 pm SLT Lauren

Lauren is the greatest Second Life comic and she's sharing her mic with you. Bring a friend you won't regret it. Then at 6PM Jwheels Presents TerryLynn Melody

Lauren is the greatest Second Life comic and she's sharing her mic with you. Bring a friend. Not Safe For Work.

Damn You Auto Correct! - Funny iPhone Fails and Autocorrect Horror Stories

-----------------------------------

7PM California time Short Poetry Workshop Sunnie Beaumont
New Year's Free Form Poetry Wrkshp-Tue 12/28,7pm SLT - This week is a Free Form Poetry Workshop with the theme of New Years. Choose any poetry form that we’ve done at the Short Poetry Workshop with the theme of New Years, new beginnings, resolutions, new goals, or a reflection on this past year. Come join us at Inksters Rose Garden to share your thoughts in poetry.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cookie/212/129/21/

================================

How to get into Second Life without really trying

Monday, December 27, 2010

Team: Will-power and other myths. Just in time for the New Year

Will-power is not about Unity

What we know about will-power is about the same as what we know about the tooth fairy. We've heard people talk about the tooth fairy. But we have never seen the tooth fairy in action. We never ask the dentist for tooth parts to take home and put under our pillows.

Of course, the dentist may have something going with the tooth fairy.

Back to will-power. We have heard people talk about will-power. People complain that they don’t have will-power. Or they criticize other people for a lack of will-power. Occasionally, people suggest to someone else that a problem could be solved if only that someone else had will-power.

There is a subtle difference between will-power and the tooth fairy. Nobody complains that they don’t have a tooth fairy. Nobody criticizes other people for not having a tooth fairy. Nobody suggests that having a tooth fairy would solve a problem.

Self-discipline is an illusion produced by engineering the job.

To get to the root of the will-power story, think about a time when a person is supposed to have will-power. I decide to lose weight. I decide to avoid fattening foods. I find that I do not avoid fattening foods. I explain why I did not do what I supposedly decided to do by blaming my lack of will-power.

This story is really about my language channel. That's the part of my brain that handles language. My language channel doesn't decide what I eat. My language channel just talks about eating. And says what I should do. And complains when I don’t comply.

I have other systems that control what I eat. From their standpoint, my language channel exceeded its authority when it claimed I had decided to avoid fattening foods. Those other brain channels hadn't bought into that decision. My supposed lack of will-power was really just a demonstration that my language channel can’t decide by itself. My language channel can claim to make a decision, but it can’t enforce it. If I am going to make a decision that works, I need to get all my brain systems on board.

Talk is cheap and worth every penny of it
====================================

In this post I start a new theme I call Team. It will be about creative collaboration with other people and with yourself. Collaboration with yourself? Well, some people say they have conflicts within themselves. Collaboration is the opposite.

Kit, Media: Videography, machinima, videos from the Virtual Village

Videography, machinima, videos from the Virtual Village

Videography, machinima -- Machinima means video made in a game world. Videography means any kind of video. If you are making the video, the difference will be important to you. If you are watching it, you won't care.

Producing videos in Second Life is a big and growing service. Some people tell me they are making good money at it.

Some people make commercials for their own products or services:

Marketing in the media

Others use video to document things they want to promote:

Installaton Art by Juria Yoshikawa

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Visualized Poems

I Gave at the Office

Shrink Wrapped
===========================
Machinima main page from Linden lab
https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Machinima

Where you can capture video content.

Sims listed here allow people to capture video content.

Machinima Friendly Sims - Second Life Wiki:

Linden Lab: Snapshot and Machinima Policy

https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Snapshot_and_machinima_policy

Starter pages
Vidder Maker Workshop
Audacity 101
Gimp 101
=============================

How to get into Second Life without really trying

12/27/10 The Sound of Poems

Monday

====================

Click below for other schedules:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cookie/138/112/22

Music Island Concerts

===================================

Monday 27 December, beginning at 7:00 AM Central Standard Time, web-radio station stillstream dot com will begin a 12-hour (yes, twelve hours) marathon broadcast of the 2010 Full Moon Lunacy Concerts."

Here is the weblink:

http://stillstream.com

==========================

3 pm SLT The Sound of Poems --

Poetry readings managed by Written Word.

Readers vary weekly. Give your poem to one of the readers.

Cookie Town Center

==========================

How to get into Second Life without really trying

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Media: Radio: Music Island -Marathon broadcast, Lunacy Concerts

Radio: Music Island - broadcast of Full Moon Lunacy Concerts

Music Island - Once more with feeling:
"Monday 27 December, beginning at 7:00 AM Central Standard Time, web-radio station stillstream dot com will begin a 12-hour (yes, twelve hours) marathon broadcast of the 2010 Full Moon Lunacy Concerts."

Here is the weblink:
http://stillstream.com
================================

Media: Games, Stories, Projects. What can they tell you about each other?

Games, Stories, Projects

Game developers
Writers
Project managers

Challenge to the reader: Think outside the box:
What do these three activities have in common?
============================
And how do these terms fit in?

Quest
Story
Hero
Goal
Resolution

========================
Clues Closet
http://thinkerer.org/Background/BakHeadGame.htm

http://thinkerer.org/Background/BakMyths.htm

http://thinkerer.org/Tools/ToolsYourTeam.htm

http://virtualoutworlding.blogspot.com/2010/12/media-education-serious-games-summary.html
=========================
Could you use what you figured out in your next project?
=========================
Background
Fragland.net V4 :: Report: US game sales reached $25 billion in 2010:

"The report is good news for MMOs, casual gaming portals, social networks and digital disitribution though. MMOs went up 27%, PC digital distribution up 60%, casual game portals rose 34%, and social networks saw their user spend rise even 66%."

-------------------------

Writers alert! A VIRTUAL SHORT PLAY BUFFET

Original short plays (3-10 minutes)

24 plays will be selected for readings

5 plays will get full production (possibly streamed to the web and archived)

http://virtualoutworlding.blogspot.com/2010/12/writers-alert-virtual-short-play-buffet.html

-------------------------------------------------------------------

6 Emerging Social Games Taking the Web by Storm:

"Games are inherently social — we like to post our high scores, compete against our friends, or simply share our digital exploits. But “social gaming” is a relatively new genre of games that is all about interacting, sharing, and connecting with friends."
--------------------------------------------
Gamasutra - News - MindJolt Delivering Social Games To Broadcast Interactive Media Network:

"MindJolt announced a deal that will deliver its catalog of social games to Broadcast Interactive Media's network of 900 websites, which claims some 110 million users.

Currently reaching around 20 million users each month on social networks (MySpace, Facebook), other partner sites, and its own online portal, MindJolt operates a platform with hundreds of casual and social games created by third-party developers."

Events: 12/26/10 1st Question VIRTUALLY SPEAKING SUNDAYS, Paisley Beebe

Sunday

========================

Click below for other schedules: