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Showing posts with label virtual world. Show all posts
Showing posts with label virtual world. Show all posts

Monday, April 18, 2022

The SORBET Project drives residents of SecondLife and other virtual worlds to rethink social distancing and engagement during COVID-19.



COVID-19 has been a very sore spot for all, regardless of what many went through. Some lost their source of livelihood, many lost family members, homes, a sense of security, unity, and many other casualties of the pandemic. However, everyone lost their sense of freedom when the government, per the recommendations of the CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO), suggested that businesses, schools, and other public venues shut down to encourage social distancing--a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions to prevent the spread of a contagious disease with measurable physical space between individuals. As a result of the shutdown, people everywhere faced the challenge of dealing with being forced to stay home in place of being with family and friends at the mall or their favorite restaurant. 

Many people took up new hobbies and new ways to generate income during the earlier phases of the pandemic; others turned to their expansive collection of books or movies to cope. Others took to the metaverse to regain some semblance of social life and escape the pandemic and the doldrums. During this time, it was evident that SecondLife had regained traction with those familiar with the metaverse while newcomers were roused to start an account and see what the virtual world had to offer. Linden Labs, the creators behind SecondLife, saw the virtual world's economy take a sharp upturn during lockdown periods when no one had a way to engage other than through a vehicle like SecondLife, according to Yahoo! Finance. This positive change in SecondLife's economic data meant that more users logged in or joined the community at that time. 

Naturally, with COVID-19 as disruptive, many would want to either forget the event or talk more about its effects while interacting with many of SecondLife's users. To satisfy the latter, a few groups and places cropped up on the grid. However, one place that I found to be particularly interesting is the location of The SORBET Project. Veritas Raymaker is the leading mastermind behind the project but is the sole owner proprietor of its location in SecondLife. After making this remarkable discovery, I had to tap Veritas for an interview being that this particular location was a part of something that had a real purpose, in my opinion. 

I was curious as to where the idea for the SORBET Project sprouted from, so I asked Veritas for his response to this burning question, and here is what he said: 

"The SORBET Project came about as a virtual research project that a team of mathematicians wanted to start to teach children and adolescents and the general public about social behaviors that are appropriate for the pandemic. The point of this was to rewire the brains of people to believe that these practices were intrinsic to their existence and not feel as if they were another set of directives that they were required to follow," states Veritas. 

When asked why SecondLife was the medium of choice, the response was, "James Gee* had written about something he referred to as projective identity. So, as people familiar with operating as avatars, we understand that 'whatever happens to our avatar in-world, our minds generally take it as happening to our atomic selves,' this can be designed for and made use of in learning." 

He adds, "By using environments such as SL, learners can 'play' and modify their behaviors and subsequently discuss the implications of their personal decisions on the wider community, without negatively impacting the community. for example, they could see how decisions to wear masks/take a vaccination influence the degree of diffusion of the virtual virus among the community." 

Usually, such a project measures the effects of such research longitudinally. Veritas stated that "we have not undertaken any longitudinal studies primarily because our initial work was self-funded (our priority in 2020 was to respond rapidly to the teachers' expressed need to take learning to home-based settings). We were awarded formal funding in 2021 to take SORBET to the mobile platform; however, we will not be studying participants longitudinally because the funding is to develop the app and not to investigate this (pertinent) question [sic].

However, I asked whether there were measures of the project's success or failure, and Veritas provided pages of his research journal. The measurements you will see below are taken directly from the journal, which tended toward many pre-and post-questionnaires.

Leading image of descriptive statistics from the pilot that pertains to students’ responses to four statements on a five-point Likert Scale (where “1” is ‘strongly disagree and “6” is ‘strongly agree’). 

Statements used in the pre-and post-surveys on attitudes to citizenship education. 

As far as a support group for COVID or hangout spot, I felt that highlighting this cool project not only utilized SecondLife as a space to conduct a study but taught students and people about the importance of changing social happens during something as lethal, and life-altering as the COVID-19 Pandemic is far more advantageous and worth the coverage. 

*For reference, James Gee is a retired American researcher who has worked in psycholinguistics, discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, bilingual education, and literacy.


Veritas Raymaker Socials: 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennethytlim/

Twitter: @thinkermaker 

A personal site for SORBET Project: 

https://sites.google.com/site/disciplinaryintuitions/covid-19-safe-distancing-through-math

Link to In-world Location:

The SORBET Project

Link to the Journal Entry: 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666557321000136

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

VWBPE 2022 Conference PHOENIX RISING Opens 31 March 2022 in Second Life®

 



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The 15th annual Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference, beginning on Thursday, March 31st, will be an online distributed conference happening in multiple virtual spaces. This conference focuses on the use of immersive virtual environments for educational purposes including virtual and augmented reality. 

VWBPE provides educational and networking opportunities that are relevant to educational curriculum development by utilizing virtual environments and “best practices”. These include

- helping to build community through the extension of learning best practices to the practical application of those ideas and techniques;

- providing networking opportunities for educators and the communities that help support education; and

- providing access to current innovations, trends, ideas, case studies, and other best practices for educators and the communities that help support education.

Primarily, the issue being faced by the educational community is how to make the best use of new immersive technologies in a way that is sustainable and accessible based on limited budgets available to both instructors and students. Platforms that are free or open-source, or that can be shared across a broad audience are showcased including methods and research around best practices in their use and applicability.

VWBPE will again be using Linden Lab’s Second Life® environment as our primary conference venue for presentations, exhibits, roundtables, and discussions. Participants are free to submit proposals and immersive experience tours in any environment for education using technologies for virtual or augmented reality. We actively encourage showcasing multiple technology platforms. This includes practical application, researched papers, conceptual, and content creation supporting those technologies.

Our theme for this year is Phoenix Rising and the exploration of areas outside of our expertise that may be potentially opposed to our current outlook or world view. As educators, we are having to adjust to more than just a transition from in-person to online methodologies. We are facing urgent challenges in the areas of remote classroom management, outdated policies or policies not designed to be applied to online environments, child psychology and welfare in online environments, health and safety considerations, and personal privacy, among others. This means embracing the ability to quickly adapt to changing circumstances and innovative technologies to their best effect.

This year's keynote speakers are Dr. Randall Sadler and Oksana Levytska. We also have several invited speakers: Patch Linden, Maria Korolov, and Dr. Cynthia Calongne.

All of the conference events will be in Second Life® this year, and the locations are included in the listings. When you click on a conference event and click Add to Calendar, you can add the event to your own calendar (Google and more).

**VWBPE 2021 GATEWAY**

SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Gateway%20Pyxis/100/128/24

**WEB PAGES**

Conference Information: http://vwbpe.org  

Program: https://www.vwbpe.org/conference/program 

Registration: http://vwb.pe/register   

Sponsors: https://www.vwbpe.org/vwbpe-2022-sponsors 

Rockcliffe Gateway to Second Life®: http://urockcliffe.com/reg/second-life/  

**SOCIAL MEDIA**

Second Life® Group - secondlife:///app/group/8b03480a-793d-ba5b-5b6b-dd10afb5d38e/about

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/vwbpe 

Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/vwbpe_org 

LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/groups/3754644

Twitter - http://twitter.com/vwbpe 

YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/VWBPE


Monday, August 9, 2021

MyVirtualRealityJob is Hiring now!


 

Are you bored at home? Retired, wanting a little something to do on the side? Maybe a stay-at-home Mom/Dad? Hurting from the Covid19 lockdowns? Do you have great customer service skills or technical knowledge? Why not come work for us?

You can play in SL, while working from home and making real-world livable wages! We are a Real-world Company looking to bridge the gap between Reality and Virtual Reality.

MyVirtualRealityJob is a Real-World business that employs the residents of SecondLife. While Logged in to the grid Staff can earn a competitive real-world livable wage in L$. Our mission is to create a "New Breed Of Professional Gamer."

We are paying up to 27kL$ a day or upto 135kL$ weekly.

Everything you need to know is at the main office, just check out the terminals or click the live support for assistance! FAQ questions are in the main hallway at one of the 5 point terminals. Courses are paid for by the company [you do NOT have to spend any money to make money with us] Come down to our Main Virtual office and fill out an application or message Pink Haven or Kitila Cortes in world for more information!

Wednesday, June 30, 2021

IS IT STILL POSSIBLE TO GENERATE A REAL-LIFE INCOME FROM SECOND LIFE LINDENS? - VєηυŞ (venus.amore) Reporting...


For years Second Life has been a very good conversation piece when it comes to making money online. The economy in Second Life has its own exchange to USD and allows the Residents to exchange Linden’s (the inworld name for money) or $Ls into real world currency. Linden Lab’s currency was even online before Bitcoin became a viable investment. Many people over the years have made money in this virtual world and many have not. What does it take to make a living out of Second Life? Who has done this? What types of products or services actually make money in Second Life?  Well from my research, continue reading because here is what I found out.

My research in Second Life delved into several areas. The culture is much different than the real-world buyer’s market. People do make an income. The question is, is it a viable income that allows you to quit your real job? That depends on who you are, your abilities, and how driven you are. A lot of my research led me to believe that it is really not all about money. There are some people so passionate about what they do, that money is not what drives them to do it.

It would be great to sit at home and work online. In our current world crisis, this is coming more and more prominent. People work more from home now than at any time in history. The culture is changing and making more possibilities online and in Second Life for lucrative opportunities. There are millions of people in Second Life. Some have become rather well-off due to their abilities and talents.  Sominel Edelman is doing rather well with his surround sim landscaping.


Full-time, supplemental income, or maybe something that can be a passion?  Venue owners, product vendors, and scripters alike have their opinion of what Second Life income is and I’d like to share some of their views in this article. Looking at larger vendors like Catwa, and Maitreya in recent years seem to be very lucrative in the recent changes for mesh. Still striving from the past, Ansche Chunge made international news by becoming the first millionaire to make a profit in Second Life. Stroker Serpentine was not far behind when he and his team brought adult content into Second Life during its first years of existence.

Aside from land and adult items, you have clothing, scripting, and venues that feed the economy in Second Life. Some of my dear friends in Second life have offered up their opinions and expertise on these matters. In the year 2003 Stroker Serpentine and his team brought adult pose balls in-world and in 2006 Fnordian Link started his scripter career, Lestat Reuven started Sissboom and the French Farm.  She brought us some really nice furniture and clothing on the grid and is still striving. In 2007, Sominel Edelman started to develop surrounding landscapes which are all over the grid today with beautiful scenes. 

In 2009, cherryblonde (chryblnd.scribe) started Idle Rogue, an entertainment venue with Live Musicians, Djs at first which evolved into one of the premier venues for the unique burlesque shows in Second Life. By 2011 a friend of mine Pixy Snook started designing many types of skins, tattoos, and makeup. Now we use appliers for different layers on the mesh and these items are popular to make each and every avatar unique. Pixy made a lot of money when she created a limited skin edition once but said that she has not been able to recreate that much hype since. 

So far Pixy Snook has made supplemental income with Second Life because of her busy Real Life.  Also in 2011, Origen Resident decided to bring parts of Hollywood in-world with his Venues. Hollywood Venues featuring places like the Chinese Theater and Hollywood Bowl were premiere entertainment spots featuring some of the most talented performers in Second Life through live music shows and burlesque. 


There are many reasons why people create in Second Life. Venue owners do not make too much money and end up spending a lot of money. You could supplement that by possibly renting out some of your land. But for those who love the arts, it’s a passion. As Origin states “Please don't undersell your value. And here is some great advice from Ted Turner that I always follow: Advertise, Advertise and Advertise. The only thing I would add to that is to advertise in places that you can show will bring you a return on investment. Do not throw your money just anywhere. There is lots of good free advertising on FB in SL groups.” As for products and services that people can buy and use in world, the people I choose in this article have been making money in Second Life since shortly after they landed in the world. They are still making L today. Because of the structure of how money is made in world, the patrons have the ability to exchange it for real-world dollars. 

In closing, those I mentioned above have found their calling in Second Life and are very successful. Others have run their SL career course and moved on. Yes, it is still possible to create a lucrative SL career in Second Life, but only if you put in the time and effort to succeed. There you have it. People may have what it takes to make a full-time income in Second Life, and many can make a part-time profit. It’s your Second Life; you decide what you bring into and out of it. I would like to thank all the contributors to this article!

Pictures supplied by: NicoleX Moonwall


Thursday, February 25, 2021

GeekSpeak subject for Saturday 27th February at noon SLT: Do we live in a Virtual World?

 


Second Life is a virtual world but is Real Life also a virtual world?  Do our real-life selves live in a simulated universe?  How can we know if that is so?

According to the Bostrom argument, there are likely to be many more simulated universes than real universes so, statistically speaking, it is more likely that we live in a simulated universe.

Could we be conscious in a simulated universe, like the Doctor in Star Trek: Voyager or Vic Fontaine in ST: Deep Space Nine?  The Doctor is a simulation who lives in the real world, Vic Fontaine is a simulation that lives in the holodeck.  Both are apparently conscious.

Is there a real-world outside of our world?  Could we live there?

Come and find out if you are real or not and if it matters.  Bring all your real, imagined and virtual friends!

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class every Wednesday at 1pm SLT in the GeekSpeak auditorium, if you have ideas for new subjects.




Thursday, March 28, 2019

VWBPE 2019 Conference “Re:Visions” Opens April 4, 2019 in Second Life




April 4 starts the three-day Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference, with an amazing lineup of speakers, workshops, sim demonstrations, poster presentations, open discussions, and more.  The conference will cover a wide range of subjects concerning virtual worlds and their use for education, virtual reality, smart games, arts and science, and the future of technology. Although the main part of the conference will be held in Second Life this year, there are sessions about different virtual worlds, and events on other virtual world grids.


This year's keynote speakers are Dr. Tom Boellstorff, Dr. Tuncer Can, and Dr. Jonathon Richter. (https://vwbpe.org/conference/keynotes-and-speakers-2019). They will help us consider an anthropologist’s view of virtual worlds (including the feature film “Our Digital Selves: My Avatar Is Me” at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQw02-me0W4&feature=youtu.be); the use of virtual worlds in language learning; and what works in immersive XR (VR/AR/MR).


The VWBPE conference keynote speakers and their respective presentations are featured on the conference website (http://vwbpe.org), along with a calendar of exciting presentations, social activities, and networking events that will set extraordinary discussions in motion.  


The VWBPE Immersive Experiences showcase unique and interesting work being conducted across the metaverse. We invite you to join us as we explore sixteen interactive and engaging locations across five virtual environments. The Immersive Experiences are scheduled from March 24 to April 19 (exclusive of the conference dates). Details and access instructions for the experiences are found at http://vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe-calendar.


Additionally, this open and free conference would not be possible without the generous contributions of our VWBPE sponsors (http://vwbpe.org/sponsors-2019 ).


The Rockcliffe Registration Portal is open for people to register new Second Life avatars and find out more about the VWBPE conference in-world. Go to http://urockcliffe.com/reg/second-life/ and all the instructions are there to get your friends started.


The full conference schedule is online here: http://vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe-calendar. You can also view presentations live on YouTube (http://vwbpe.org/watch). All of the conference events will be in Second Life this year, and the locations are included in the listings. When you click on a conference event and click Add to Calendar, you can add the event to your own calendar (Google+ and more).


**Keynotes**


VWBPE Main Auditorium


Keynote: Paraethnographic film as mode of education: Lessons from disability in virtual worlds
Dr. Tom Boellstorff, University of California Irvine
Thursday, April 4, 2019
9:30 – 10:20am SLT/US Pacific Daylight Time


Keynote: Teacher training within Virtual Worlds
Dr. Tuncer Can, Istanbul University
Friday, April 5, 2019
9:00am – 9:50pm  SLT/US Pacific Daylight Time


Keynote: Crossing the Horizon together: Scanning, transforming, and sharing “What Works” in Immersive XR
Dr. Jonathon Richter, Salish Kootenai College and Executive Director, Immersive Learning Research Network
Saturday, April 6, 2019
11:00 AM – 11:50am SLT/US Pacific Daylight Time


**Above the Book Interviews**


VWBPE Main Auditorium
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Central%204/34/31/22


Thursday, April 4, 2019
02:00 PM – 02:50 PM
Above the Book: What’s new at the Lab?
Patch Linden, Senior Director, Product Operations and Grumpity Linden, Senior Director, Product.


Saturday, April 6, 2019
02:00 PM – 03:00 PM
Above the Book: Catching up with Thinkerer
Selby (Thinkerer) Evans


**Web Pages**


Conference Information: http://vwbpe.org
Registration: http://vwb.pe/register  
Rockcliffe Registration Portal: http://urockcliffe.com/reg/second-life/


**Social Media**


Second Life Group
secondlife:///app/group/8b03480a-793d-ba5b-5b6b-dd10afb5d38e/about


Facebook


Flickr


Google Photos


Google+


LinkedIn


Twitter


YouTube


**Major Sponsors**


*Platinum Sponsors
Virtual Outworlding


*Gold Sponsors
Rockcliffe University Consortium


*Silver Sponsors
UNM Extended Learning
GReat Kreations
Virtual Ability


*Bronze Sponsors
Agile Dimensions
Kelley School of Business
EduNation Islands


Blue Ribbon Community Sponsors
Hsiao-Cheng Han
Marie Vans
Montana State University


**Contact:
Beth S. O’Connell
VWBPE Communications Chair
Avatar: Beth Ghostraven


[Attached: VWBPE 2019 Re:Visions Logo]


last modified 3/25/2019

 
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