The Unexpected

We went to the SL Ballet tonight at IBM 10 in Second Life.

Now, before I go into my rave, let me just preface this by saying that I was a skeptic. I mean, really. The Ballet? Virtual Toe Shoes? Please.

Well, as SL would have it... they proved me wrong (again). It was really good! I understood the three acts, the moves were real and not ball generated, and the music was just outstanding. I didn't like the choice in costumes for Act II, but, really, I would have hated them IRL, too. The added bonus of being able to talk through the entire thing in IM with Adrian was fab - reallllly fab (wow, I sooo wish people would use that at the movies...).

Anywho.

I posted over some educational yummies at Stingy Scholar, so "gather ye rose buds" and get on over there!

We Didn't Start the Fire

I always wonder if Billy Joel, one of my favorite musicians of all time, will update his classic hit, "We Didn't Start the Fire."

Second Life seems to have that same pace or rhythm. I tried out the Beta Voice grid last night and ended up chatting with some teenagers. I have mixed emotions. Clearly, it will rock the educational world. It was DEF COOL to chat live, but it was hard to figure out who was talking. It was DEF COOL to add voice to avatars, but I was disappointed that the commanding tiger furry dude was really a 15 year old girl from the Bronx. And while it was DEF COOL to ease up on my impending carpal tunnel, my thoughts drifted to users like my son - the ones who, in real life, are mute. My son will hear the others, but he won't be able to respond, and, thus, another world is shut off to him because he can not play on the same level as the others. But, voice will come, and, like it or not, people will use it.

Building, creating, generating...the whole idea of the "physics" of SL...yikes!

s.

Adrian built me a swing. I tried to build a pond. My buddy Marc came in for the first time and he built his avatar. 50+ educators are building a conference. Neo built me 4 custom laptops. There is constant building; there is constant change. But we love it; it is what we asked for...it is what we wanted.



But there are some things that never change. The human need never changes. The Good Samaritan group is hosting its conference May1-6. Collected around are agencies that - in RL and in SL - are trying to make a difference for those in need. The kiosks for charity grow every day. The needs grow or perhaps they are the same, but the need is still there.

We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it

Tour

This is a podcast tour that I created for a colleague giving a SL tour to administration. If you would like the supplemental notecard, please im me inworld (Desideria Stockton).

Mp3

A Blog with a View

I am soooo swamped with grading; I really can't write a lot. BUT...I shan't leave my faithful readers in the dark, Here are some recent photos (a new game created by a friend is pictured above...cool stuff happens every second in SL).


This is a class for faculty on helping students create inworld presentations. We are in the Great Romantics Room at the British Literature Classroom.



Here I am at the 2007 ITE conference.


Here I am playing on the dance machine with Johnny. I did a terrible job playing whack-a-mole and hoped to redeem myself here. Alas, I failed.


My students are learning how to make presentations in world.


These are presentations prepared by my composition students at LCCC.

Why Second Life?

Here is a podcast about why I use Second Life.

mp3

Government is SL??????

Here is a pic of a bunch of folks dancing at the ITE after party on Saturday night. The one spinning on her head with glow sticks in hand is me.

The lovely Eloise and I were working on our weekly column, Eloise and Desi's Gold Star Review (you must pick up the Picayune inworld...my only hint is that I actually DISS something and a Big Name, no less).

Anywho.

As I was postively reviewing the message board from www.rezzible.com, I got an IM from some person that wanted me to be the Education Minister of her Government. I hate politics, so the answer was no all along, but for the sake of curing my fascinated mind, I asked - well, what does your government stand for....can I read your platform? She didn't have a platform. She thinks the Lindens control everything. Um. Yeah; Philip owns it all - it is his BUSINESS. But, anyway. So, I asked her if she knew who Henry David Thoreau was. She never heard of him. I asked what rules she didn't like. She didn't have a problem with the rules but felt there needed to be more. Like what? Jobs and trainings for newbies. Her government was going to be created by the people for the people. How many people? Which people?

Now, we all know that I am probably the world's worst SL typist. Typing fast leads me to a lifetime of typonese. But, this person not only spelled every word wrong but didn't attempt to use punctuation. She didn't have a platform; she didn't know Thoreau. I'm sorry, but this world is full of politicians that don't know anything, and I am not about to endorse yet another one. FURTHER, I totally subscribe to Thomas Paine's concept that the "government is best which governs least."

If you want to start a government, get a grip on reality. Have a stand, Grab a platform. Don't expect a busy woman like me to endorse your half witted ideas of grandeur without being grilled.

Building Blocks

The problem with not writing every day is that I have 4000 things to write about and only a simple thread connects them.

Before I start, though, I want to draw attention to this song, Forever Changed VT by Season. Many thanks to Milosun for the link. Milosun is collecting funds for distribution at VT; please stop by Literature Alive! and donate to the cause.

The VT tragedy is a reminder that our lives, virtual or real, are precious. We all live in a "that would NEVER happen here" place, but, yet, we never know - there is no way to know. All we can do is continue to build lives and then bend and pause when the blocks are destroyed - ruthlessly - violently -

Our hearts extend past prim and virtual air...through to the walls of the hearts of the hurt.

May peace guide us all, and may peace take root in the victims, their families, and the VT community.

Talkin' 'bout a Revolution

If you haven't guessed yet, I am a music nut. Today's song, Tracy Chapman's, Talking About a Revolution, reminds me of how I feel about teaching and learning in Second Life.

TRACY CHAPMAN lyrics

There are a lot of ways to look at poverty. Certainly, there is economic poverty. But, more saddening and maddening is intellectual poverty, as that is what perpetuates economic poverty. The answer lies in education. By empowering our youth through education, we can equalize, at some small level, the world in which they live. At the community college level, I am honored to work with students who have no other financial or intellectual resources; the classes my students take may be the only ones that help them to establish intellectual equality.



As a teaching tool, SL provides students with the opportunity to explore a wider world than I could ever produce in real life. It isn't the same to just explore the web; the web is static, impersonal, and simply "out there." Second Life has real people on hand 24/7 to discuss content, philosophy, and news.

The recent tragedy at Virginia Tech has reminded me, again, of the strong community we have in SL. At the various vigils held to support the VT community, I was struck by the depth and sincerity of sympathy. We all want to help in some way, but the best way we can muster is to offer a safety net of sympathy and caring. Second Life allows us to do that.

Second Life allows us to make connections with people we would never be able to establish in real life. The upcoming ITE conference, for example, is proof that connections are important. The Best Practices Conference is proof that connections and recognition are imperative. Without dissemination, we are all just a bunch of really well educated gamers.

Using SL as a teaching tool won't eliminate economic poverty, but it might help us open a world to our students that helps them to be more marketable and more knowledgeable about the global world in which they live. The Horizon Project is one way to share knowledge; we need more projects like that!

Please join me in the revolution.

Virginia Tech Prayers

Please join me in praying for the Virginia Tech community.

There are never enough words to express a sympathy so deep; there are never the right words to convey sorrow and support.

We can all try to guess why some young person would choose to trash the lives of others and his/her own; we can try to figure out what snaps inside that causes such anger. Sadly, we can never really know...the voices have all been silenced.

All we can do is help pick up the pieces by praying. I pray for the college community and for the families of the victims. The mothers and fathers at home...waiting for the phone call...I can neither imagine their pain nor anticipate their fear. As a mother, I can only scream with them inside...please, dear Lord, don't let it be my child. There is one mother and one father I feel saddest for...the ones who get the call to say it was their child....their sweet child...that caused this pain. They carry the burden of the deaths, and, yet, they are not the responsible party.

My heart pours out to this community.

Let the souls of the faithful, through the mercy of God, rest in peace and rise in glory, and let light perpetual shine upon them, now and forever. Amen.

The Heat is On

I love my new fan club! I was toying with the idea of making tee shirts, and then decided that NO ONE (but Adrian) wears tee shirts in SL. Why would we...we can wear PRADA!!!

Anywho.

I got a few messages about my admiration of the "shock jock" Howard Stern. My good buddy wrote...

OMG des....you can't be serious. You listen to that crap?

So, I feel compelled to write out here where everyone can read it.

Yes. I listen to and like the Howard Stern show. Yes. I purchased my Sirius radio JUST to listen to Howard Stern (well, and Hair Nation, too). No. I am not apologizing.

Howard Stern is a brilliant business man. That, alone, is worth respecting. Whether you like the content or not, you simply can not deny the financial success.

The Stern show does feature a lot of content that I think is dumb; I am not one for listening to strippers and such, as I am quite the RL nerd and prefer NPR. However, there is also GOOD content there; I love listening to Howard and Robin talk about politics and news events (can anyone say IMUS??????). The commentary, even when I don't agree, is free of BS and rhetoric. It is honesty in motion, and - by golly - what WOULD this world do with more honesty and less fluff????

The point, though, is that I don't have to AGREE with the guy to recognize or appreciate his brilliance. I don't have to like 100% of his content in order to appreciate the strides he has made in his career toward protecting free speech. I can not think of one other spokesperson on this planet that has fought as hard as Stern to protect free speech.

This all boils down to a concept of freedom that is lost on a lot of people. We think that the best way to make people free is to hide from them the bad things of this world. My spin is that the ultimate freedom rests in being able able to choose the right and good stuff from a field of good and bad. Will people pick the bad stuff? Well, sure they will. But they are going to pick it anyway whether it is out in the open or behind the wall. Daniel Linden, in his talk to Stanford, make an excellent point. We simply don't know all that is out there. There are sub groups of sub groups, and we have no way to know them or control them, and we can not package, sell, or distribute tolerance.

So, instead of ignoring the bad or fighting the endless fight of trying to stop it through legislation, let's spend our energy teaching people to choose GOOD content. Let's show them that there is more to life than strippers and casinos. Let's give them options that allow them to choose good stuff that isn't nerdy or boring.

If I learned anything from the Barbie with Brains project, it is that people want to be entertained. Stern has capitalized on a brand of entertainment - good or bad - and we can't just wipe that out. However, we can learn to CHANGE the dial if we don't like what we hear, and allow people who like that content the freedom to choose it.

A Magical Moment for Educators

I am so excited to be a college educator in 2007.

Last week, I had the awesome opportunity to speak to the Women of the Web 2.0 via skypecast conference. Even though I had a terrible cold and a 100 degree fever, I think the interview was exciting. I got to blabber on about SL in literature education. I learned all about Alan Webb's work with Literary Worlds.

This connection led to a dicussion about the exciting Horizon Project that is all a-buzz in K-12 Education.

Inworld, we have the awesome plans all a-fire for the 2007 SL Best Practices in Teaching, Learning, Research (I am sneaking in edugaming here...but that isn't part of the title...). I can not begin to describe, even for a second, how much excitement has been generated in such a few short days!!!

!

Finally, I opened a shop in Second Life. It is like the Good Will shop; it isn't meant to make me money or anything. The School Store is meant for educators to find awesome tools for use inworld. We are also collecting some nice clothing designers that make clothes appropriate for teachers and students. Finally, we are collecting some nive furniture that can be used in college or educational settings. 10% of commission goes to fund Literature Alive!

The gamers met in world, and it was just amazing to see all the people assembled to talk about edcutional gaming! Many kudos to Jeremy Koerster for gathering the troops at Angel Island.

Stanford's Chat with Daniel Linden

Here is a wicked cool interview of a workshop with Daniel Linden - the dude responsible for safety and governance in safety in SL. Many kudos to Stanford for putting out this awesome video!

The video is awesome, and Daniel is an articulate and honest representative of Linden Labs. I love listening to the history of Second Life, and I am completely engaged by the "hands off" approach toward governance. Age play was one of the issues that was raised, and "what is the age of consent for a weasel?" There are so many facets and subsets of subsets of role playing groups, and there really is no way to know, or to control, all of the different groups. I was glad to hear that Daniel never heard of Goreans, since I never heard of them either. But, the simple truth is that Linden labs can't predict who will or won't come in or stay in SL. "Serial Fetishists" are a part of the experience - good or bad.

Daniel is responsible for the 6 rules of community standard, and discusses how SL regulates itself. He discusses that he doesn't see that there will ever be a parliament that rules SL - although people are certainly welcome to create it. Daniel discusses the RL businesses like Nissan and Pontiac. They wave their "hippie flag" by treating every person the same and "leveling the playing field."

I love his whole discussion of the discourse changes in SL. In SL, the person may be a high powered designer and tellingly articulate. But, that same person could be a produce manager at Pathmark in RL. Since I look at chat speech, I was fascinated by his examination of this topic. He, too, finds that people are different - some become BETTER WRITERS in Second Life! I soooo hope some English teachers are reading this :-)

But, what I love most is Daniel's brutal honesty. This is the element of Second Life that I like the most - the honesty of the creators. Philip Linden, for example, has always been honest and forthright in his interviews, and I enjoy listening to him. Daniel discusses the inability to control violations of standards. For example, the idea that you can't share information about others is impossible to enforce, so rules like that are going to be dropped. They "can't enforce intolerance."

The libertarian approach of Second Life is very appealing to me. I am not overly political, but I do support free speech. For example, I am a huge fan of Howard Stern. I know - some of you are gasping. While I don't actually listen to the show too often (lack of time), and I am not interested in the sexy stuff he does, I do celebrate his ability to speak freely on satellite. He can do and say whatever and be as offensive as he wants to be, and people are PAYING to listen to him. Second Life is a little like that. We pay to be a part of this world, and we have to buy into the fact that there is good and bad stuff. I turn the station when Stern is doing something boring or stupid, but I ultimately have control of the dial. Likewise, I can teleport out of stupid content in SL. The freedom resides in the ability to CHOOSE, every day, good content.

The Hope on the Horizon

Vicki Davis, Guru of K-12 Web 2.0 education, invited me to be involved with this ultra cool initiative, The Horizon Project. This project asks K-12 students from around the world to investigate the future of classrooms while using the technologies propelling us forward. It is an awesome project, and I am excited to be a mentor for the virtual worlds section and a judge at the end.

As I was reading Vicki's blog post today, I thought that this project was very much like the Second Life International Conference: Best Practices in Teaching, Learning and Research.

Educators are on the edge of the horizon looking out. Some, like Vicki and the ones I know in SL, are facing the challenges head-on. Others are running away - seeking the days when books were on paper and colored pencils were the hottest tool around.

I commend Vicki and the other teachers for eagerly embracing change in education, and I applaud their passion, love, and dedication to teaching. Please support them by visiting the work of the students; make comments, offer suggestions, and, most importantly, offer them all praise for looking forward before running away.

The Ultimate Callaborative Build

I learned a few valuable lessons this week:

1. If your Sim is sent back in pieces, a lot of really good people will help you pick them up. Cyber Compliments go out to ALL THE MEMBERS ON SLED that pitched in to help save the work of the Renaissance Island people.
2. If you go for a tour, you might end up planning a conference.

The Educators in SL are really geared up for the 1st Annual Best Practices in SL Teaching Conference being held May 25th.

We have had some wonderful leaders step forward to sponsor the conference, including the awesome and resourceful NMC. They are also providing us space to host displays for all colleges, non-profits, libraries, and other educational venues. We are greatly indebted to them for their generosity.

We have also been blessed by the in-kind generosity of Hyperstring.net, LTD and ACHUB. We have lined up one of our keynote speakers, Intellagirl Tully.

We still need some financial support (about 250USD), vendors, presenters, and VOLUNTEERS!!!!! Hop on the wiki if you want to help out (1st Annual Best Practices in SL Teaching Conference Wiki).

The most important lesson I have learned this week is that enthusiasm multiplies. The homeless Renaissance people felt it; the educators feel it, and our students, no doubt, will feel it, too. When we get excited, our energy creates more energy, and that energy - boundless - is the fuel of passion.

A King and His Castle

I wish I had the ability to build and script. Ok, I don't really wish that. I am an idea person, an organizer, a motivator, and a teacher. I love the idea of building, but I also love the idea of being Amish for a day. And, well, they don't have wireless.

I have been watching Adey build his castle on our little private piece of SL Heaven. He built his own working toilet (now he must be taught the rules...lid down even in the virtual world). This thing flushes, too. It is quite something to say you have built your own working loo in the sky. It was a proud moment.

Today, I was surprised with bunnies. First there were two, then there were like 12 until we ran out of prim space. We sent back the extras to the 3D Bunny Haven, and Adam and Eve now live at the Lit Alive! HQ. They like to eat the grass by the SimTeach sign; let's hope they don't pee on it (oh wait - maybe we can build a bunny loo?).

I know why Adey loves to build so much; he loves it for the same reason I love working with educators. It is SOOOOO exciting to create something from air. Read my next post about the 1st Annual Best Practices in SL Teaching Conference to learn about this newest collaborative build.

We Built this City

So, the group Jefferson Airplane (AKA Jefferson Starship) never met JJ Drinkwater or visited Caledon. But, if they had, they would know that JJ devotes his heart and soul to promoting good content in SL.

Yesterday, in the middle of class at LAHQ, I received all of my educational materials back from Renaissance Island. I was dismayed but busy, so I couldn't deal with the problem right then and there. Later, when I had the chance to catch up with JJ, I learned that the whole island - the one he and all the cool librarians worked on - was gone. Poof. Up in smoke.

Apparently, the donor of the island couldn't support it, and just got rid of it. There was no warning to the librarians. There was no chance for them to make the money or donate it to save the sim for one more month.

Well, the Desi-Beth machine, albeit down with a terrible head cold, can not stand by and watch people get trampled on. I geared up the ye-old-email-machine, and sent inquiries to Debs Regent at the London sim and to the SLed list.

I am SOOOO proud to be part of this network. Within minutes, emails started to pour in. This place can host this much that place can hold that much. Never fear, JJ and company, there are a lot of people here that want to help.

I am touched by this generous spirit.

Did she Dupe the Desi???

WELL.

I have had one of those days in SL that was both productive and annoying, Fortunately, the annoying part was sandwiched in between two productive parts.

To start the day, I got to see some gorgeous furniture that Adey built. He is such a wiz now at this building, and it is like watching this amazing transformation. I wish I had the talent to build or script, but I don't. I am content to watch others be brilliant, instead :-)

Then my buddy, Rezon, invited me over to take a look at the place where he works inworld. This is an interesting story. Rezon found Literature Alive! on a day of exploring in SL, and was shocked to find that HIS local community college was the one behind it. The rest is history, but it is amazing how this virtual game connected people who live about 2 miles away from each other IRL. He called his boss over, PaulC (both are up there in the pic), and we were ready to start the tour when I decided to invite my educator friends. Well, you KNOW how it is when I stir up trouble (hehehe)!

This Hyperstring (LEWIS) place is amazing. It can run live feed or movies; it has a staff that will take care of everything while all the teachers show off their virtual goodies. It really looks like a REAL conference facility. Now, I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE SAYING...why create something in SL that already exists IRL? Well, for one...we want our colleges to take this conference seriously, so, we need to host it somewhere "professional." Also, a lot of people have great space, but I think it is best to use a third party vendor. Why? Well, quite simply, it doesn't become one college's conference. I wouldn't even know wh oto pick, to be honest, as there are a lot of great spaces, and surely, someone would get offended. This isn't the Literature Alive! conference; it isn't the LCCC Conference. Since it is not at one college, everyone has equal voice, and I think that is a great way to start a new tradition :-)

My dream has been to hold an in-world conference for educational best practices. Audio Zenith/Chris Hambly inspired me with his ACHUB conference earlier this Spring. So, I tossed out the idea to see if anyone else wanted something like that...Desi should SOOO know better. Within 30 minutes, we had a committee formed (we STILL need volunteers, never fear!) and a date (Friday, May 25th).

We will be hosting the 1st Annual Best Practices in SL Education Conference on Friday, May 25th. The owner of the place, PaulC Beck (RL Paul Clevett of Hyperstring.net), was such a wonderful resource, and even gave us a great discount. We need to raise about 200 USD to cover the rental costs (that is 56K in Linden)...so PLEASE donate (we can exchange shameless promotion).

We are accepting proposals for inworld presentations (just like a RL conference), and there will be the ability to stream live or play MOV files. There are smaller rooms, a huge lecture hall, and a beach party place (we thought we heard Abba...but I was convinced it was the Stones). We will try to make it JUST LIKE a RL conference (with gift bags and registration lines!).

So, that was an EXCITING morning!

Then...drum roll...a reporter from SLNN contacted me...about a woman he thinks is scamming me. While I can't go into details or mention any names, please know that there are people in here scamming us. I am not sure if she really is scamming us; she has never asked me for any money, and all I did was host her content about her cause of choice. And, I refrain from any judgments of any kind about that sort of thing, as I just want to provide space to those emerging in SL. But, if she IS scamming me, I am really disappointed. To take someone's good nature and generosity and jump up and down on it is, well, sucky. Let's hope for the best; let's assume she is innocent. In any case, until she can show some sort of legitimacy, I won't host her content.

The day ended with a lovely and lively group at Lit Alive! talking about creating syllabi in a SL world. WE talked about a lot of issues, and we had no resolutions, but, we did at least start thinking about the ways the world will change. Next week, we will practice with the soap boxes! So, come on over and learn a new teaching tool!

We Got Game in the Humanities

There are some days when I feel very alone in the wide world of SL. I am surrounded by brilliant educators, but they are all scientists, technologists, historians, or librarians.

WHERE HAVE ALL THE ENGLISH PROFESSORS GONE???

I was going to break into a song that would shame even Joan Baez, but then I read this awesome article about Stanford and the Humanities posted on the SLed Listserve. Apparently, there is a magical place called the Stanford Humanities Lab. They say:

With new developments in areas such as biotech, digital culture, global society, SHL believes that some crucial questions — about what it is to be human, about experience in a connected world, about the boundaries of culture and nature — transcend the old divisions between the arts, sciences and humanities, between the academy, industry and the cultural sphere (http://shl.stanford.edu/index.html).

Wow.

Well, I really couldn't find anything about teaching literature in SL, and I think I may be the only person doing that (although there are loads of people doing awesome work with ESL, poetry, women's studies, and creative writing). But, I just may be the only one hammering away at literature. But, it DOES help to know that Stanford is out there getting some game for the Humanities...we certianly can't let the scientists have ALL the fun!!!

With the help of Ligeia Westwick and Eloise Pasteur, I have finally finished the first two floors of the British Literature Classroom. If you have not been there is a while, go forth and explore! I would love some feedback about what you like and what you hate. Just search for British Literature in the SL search buffet, and you will you find the link.

Get Yer Hot Fresh Picayune!

I just sent Milosun the first of my inworld educational reviews for inclusion in the next edition of the Picayune. BE SURE to get yer hands on a hot little copy! The reviews discuss a variety of excellent products that cost a wee little linden. Free tools will be reviewed over at Stingy Scholar.

I am so impressed by watching people learning to build in SL. Adrian, for example, made that egg and the gorgeous solitare inside. He also made the table. He just built us a private house, as well. He has really caught the bug for building, and I love watching him work.

One of my best friends in RL and in SL won the Build-a-Bear Contest sponsored by FxyLdy Moonlight. All proceeds were donated to research for cancer and the focus was on terminally ill children. I have a passion for children with disabilities; my youngest son had a stroke in utero. So, I am happy to watch people like Fxy host events that allow creativity for a cause. All the bears were gorgeous, and every single person should be proud of the work he/she did. Holly and Art raised over 36,000 Linden on this bear:

2007 International Technology Expo

One of my missions in SL is to connect three populations.

First, I advocate for the connecting of academic resources. For example, I just met Fire Centaur today from English Village. Since they offer comprehensive ESL courses, there is no advantage to competing. I am honored to promote them.

Second, I advocate for the residential population as at-large learning communities. While they may not be enrolled in our colleges, they may want to learn all that we have to teach. Thus, all of my course materials are open access. The whole point of Literature Alive! is to break down boundaries; my dream is for every SL resident to find some sort of literature to love.

Third, I advocate for the business community. They have excellent tools out there that educators can use. PixelTrix, Eloise Pasteur's Educational Designs, and Phoenix Designs (laptops) are all examples of excellent technology available inworld. I am learning about more tools by being a part of the International Technology Expo.

Why should all of us go to the ITE Conference? Well, for starters, the creator, Liam Kanno, gave me a a space to set up shop..knowing that I sell nothing...create nothing technological...and can bring no revenue to Silicon Island. But, he still gave Literature Alive! a space to promote the mission of literary content in SL. Satya Murthy is also an advocate of global needs for children; his RL dedication to children in poverty is amazing, and his animation work is awesome. He was kind enough to donate a trailer for play at the Literature Alive! HQ.

There are some AWESOME tools being showcased at ITE, I won't tell you everything, as you are gonna have to come and SEE it...but...here are some teasers...

What would YOU do with some groovy new speech tools?

What would your students do if they could get JOBS inworld?

What would your colleges do with advertising solutions?

What would you do if you information could be stored an accessible to students even when you are passed out from grading??

Really, you ought to mark your PixelTrix Calendar and go to the 2007 ITE. Here is information from their brochure:

INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY EXPO - 2007
April 20, 21,22

HONORING EXCELLENCE IN SL TECHNOLOGY

ITE 2007 is dedicated to showcasing the most innovative in technology products and services created by its residents for your business and personal needs.

FREE ADMISSION
OPEN 24/7

Grand Opening
FRIDAY APRIL 20 at NOON PDT

EXPO SCHEDULED EVENTS* Details on Lectures, New Product Launches, Demonstrations,Discussions, EXPO Concert & Parties to be announced.

• Friday April 20 noon to 6:00 pm PDT 7:00 PM EXPO CONCERT - John Legend
• Saturday April 21 noon to 6:00 pm PDT 7:00 PM EXPO CONCERT - Black Eyed Peas
• Sunday April 22 noon to 6:00 pm PDT

*FREE 100 hours on www.network.com from SUN to all attendees who visit their
booth during the ITE's scheduled events.

SPONSORS
• Sun Microsystems
• S Media 24x7
• Reallusion
• Cattle Puppy Productions
• Second Life Broadcasting Company

HOSTED on
Silicon Island/Silicon City

DEVELOPER
Liam Kanno & the V3 Group Team

Literature Alive! and CCWOB Resources

I am always on the wee look out for goodies to use for Literature Alive! and the Writing Classrooms of the Community College without Borders project.

Obviously, the Gutenberg materials are awesome...but, LO!, there is a new resource!!!

At The Rare Book Room, there are FREE (repeat it.....woooooooot!) FREE images of rare books. There are high resolution photos of every page. I popped over to see the images of Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience. It was incredible to digi-flip pages that no one in her right mind would let my RL popcorn-stained hands touch.

I also added some of Butch Dae/George Kurtz's gaming links to my recent post over at Stingy Scholar. While you are there, scroll down and check out the posts on the top MIT open course wares. You might be able to use some of those goodies in SL!

I am posting another announcement here for the NEW Chem-complex at Second Nature Island! This is complete with a Blue Obelisk Garden, the JCB Center for Open Notebook Science, and The CCwoB Science Writing Classroom. GO VISIT!! Tarry not!

Back in the Saddle!

I'm BAAAAACK!!! Woot Woot!

I had a lovely productive today; Adrian, Eloise, and I built up a science center on the Nature Sim for my good buddy, Jean-Claude Bradley, at Drexel University. He promotes a killer cutting-edge concept called Open Notebook Science where scientists (in his case, Organic Chemists) freely share their live data via RSS technology. Imagine the potential! At Nature, you can find the JCB Center for Open Notebook Science (study orgo chem, learn about the Gene Pool, teleport to the International Space Center, etc.) and the Blue Obelisk Cemetery (a game where 15 people can compete in a map-quiz game involving Lewis structures or some such thing...).

I spoke with my new friend, Satya Murthy, at his office on Silicon Island. His company, SMedia 24X7, is one of the sponsors of the International Technology Expo that I have been drooling about for the past two weeks. Satya is an animator IRL, and has some pretty hefty-cool credentials. But, what strikes me most about him is his passion for helping the poor children of the world.

The potential to meet and share ideas is what makes SL the ultimate experience in teaching and learning. I would never have met Satya in RL, and I could never just build something for Jean-Claude in one day.

Sometimes I do wonder if it is worth it...and I suspect a lot of faculty feel that way. But then folks like Ryan Bretag write nice things, and I realize how important our collective sharing becomes in this, and all, realities.

Jean-Claude can't cure malaria alone. Satya can't save the the orphans alone. Teachers can not teach alone. We all rely on each other; we all make "it" happen.

MacBrilliance

After a buffet of 6 laptops that could not run the graphics of SL, my college coughed up a brilliant MAC!!! Yeah, yeah....Bryan Carter always tells me that I should use one...well, as it is, it works, I can see better than I have ever seen inworld, and I AM HAPPPPPPPY!!!!!

Everyone should send an email to the amazing Beverly Benfer at LCCC for getting me connected. It would absolutely make her day (be sure to say both of my names...as I am not sure she knows who Desideria is...).

I spent some quality time with the neglected Adrian; it was lovely. See the pics :-) Then I had a smashing good time with the brilliant Eloise Pasteur as we played and pretended to work :-)

We are coming out with a new series...The Eloise and Desi Gold Star Standard Review...we will be evaluating 2 educational tools a week and donating the reviews to the Picayune and anyone else standing still enough to catch them. If you have a tool for us to review (ummm....an EDUCATIONAL tool...y'all can keep the Xcite), send it to us inworld :-)

The Good Stuff

My real life friend, Michele, felt soooo sorry for me...she lent me her laptop (customized by her4 year old). In exchange for cleaning up a hard drive customized by her 14 year old niece, I was able to log into SL and move around for the first time yesterday. Then I crashed...and crashed again. I feel like one of those people that is trying to quit smoking and runs around taking puffs off of the used butts of others. Pathetic...I truly am.

Anyway, Lotsa people have sent me good stuff to keep me entertained. Here are the best of the best:

Stan Trevena sent me a nice clip and another one here.

Niki Donburi sent me a link to his musical tribute to SL...what a hoot! I laughed so hard, I was crying.

Kisa Naumova sent me this incredible movie clip, as well. It shows a build from start to finish, and has somne groooooovy music.

Theodore Ubhaus sent a killer link to Nerdcore Rising. While I thought the intro and exit were stupid, I loved the meat of it and think it is a brilliant concept overall.

Someone was kind enough to run a blog with the top 10 hot clips embedded right in there :-)

Art Fossett sent me two slide share thingies: the Second Life in 3600 seconds was great, as was Information Architecture in Second Life.

I will keep adding to the list, so send me your goodies :-)

Friends in Strange Places

I must say that I am OVERWHELMED by the support I have received from my SL friends. My RL husband keeps handing me things like mops, buckets, and frying pans.

First, I need to thank Adrian and Eloise for really pitching in to set up the Student Gallery of Knightsbridge. Rumor has it that KB will be receive some media attention soon, and I couldn't handle the thought of something being left unfinished. Adey and El have set up the loaner display from Caledon. Please go see it!!!! I would SLurl you, but, um, I CAN'T GET ON!!!!

Second, I would like to thank NIKO for his awesome musical tributes to SL...OMG...the best song is called Dear Linden, Dear Linden...followed very closely by the spoof ESCAPE. Niko, you are a genius!!!!! You must leave this blog and go listen.

Finally, I would like to thank the MANY people who have emailed and skype chatted. THANK you for helping me be less lonely out here.

You Know You Are an SL Addict...

And, so, I will keep blogging until I can resume my normal virtual life. Thanks to netopnyrop for having pics of my home on Flickr :-p

I was reading over one of my favorite blog posts by Intellagirl and thought that I would blog about the misery of being off due to technical failure (and, no...I WAS NOT BANNED...smarty pants...what on earth would I get banned for...being toooo nerdy? ROFL).

So, here is my new list...and I welcome additions and links over to your posts.

You Know You are a Second Life Addict When...

1. You are at a meeting with a dean and he makes you laugh, and you accidentally say the letters ROFL...

2. You are at the Gap, and you see a slick pair of jeans that costs 40 dollars and you say, OMG...that would cost 10,000 Linden!!!

3. When people ask how your husband is, you respond with "which one - the real one or the virtual one?"

4. You get up at 5 am to go to a class on making Easter Baskets...

5. You are jealous that your book bag can't carry all your inventory.,.

6. You have no idea what your SL best friend's name is in RL (um, Eloise, really, you can tell me...).

7. You eye up a pair of leather stiletto boots and think, wow, can I get these inworld?

8. Your students call you Desi in the hallways at your RL college...

9. You start to write in paragraphs that will fit on a notecard...and...finally...

10. Your life goes upside down when your machine dies, so you spend all your time blogging about it!!!