Sorry for the Delay

Well I started a new job and now I need to find time to go into SL again. The new job has different hours and acces to computers during the work day so I can't just hope on during lunch like before. I hope to have some new information posted soon.

Thanks!

Federal Work Group Conference

If you were not logged in on Friday and you missed this event, you missed seeing something that was fairly exciting. There was a massive work group session with multiple locations in RL as well as SL. There were discussing using SL for ideas with the Federal Government. I was able to watch, participate, chat about the event for some time (over 2 hours) and I heard it was an all day event.

They had multiple speakers presenting different topics and using different presentation styles. What I found to be really interesting was the fact it was being streamed and presented live. One presenter used a stream of his desk top and did a primer on SL. He covered everything from how to log in to moving and viewing. We could hear his voice and watch a screen of what his computer had displayed. The next presenter was using PowerPoint or some other presentation software, but it was not just a constant presentation. During sections of the presentation it would cut from the presentation to the presenter, live! It was really exciting to see and hear live audio and video streamed from different locations.

In SL they were set up in NOAA and NASA JPL islands. NOAA filled up fast and several people who could not make it there came to NASA JPL, which is where I was. We had moderators at the locations and if we wanted to ask questions the moderator would send the questions over. I know of at least one SL question was asked while I was there.

I think it really opened up ideas in my mind about education and how we might be able to use this in the schools, or better yet outside of the schools to work with more students and extend the learning environment to more of a 24/7 model.

NASA Jet Propulsion Lab

NASA's JPL (Jet Propulsion Lab) is located on Explorer Island. What an instersting place right off the bat. Firs the note cards are fantastic and fun of information. You get one notecard when you show up, and I got another as an Asteroid was heading towards me. This island is loaded with information for any space enthusist or student wanting to learn more. They have created many different moving exhibits so that you can see the whole object, or walk around it to see more.


(Important note: many of the cards have Spanish versions and a few French so that students can have more access to the information)


There is so much to see and do here that I'm not sure I can put it all down in words. They are still constructing some of it, but there are so many note cards to read with information on different spacecrafts from NASA, including some fun facts with each one.


When you do stop by this island, make sure you check out the Martian mountain (Victoria Crater I believe). You can see the rovers, check out the rover aribags, see a Martian dust storm, and explore a Martian landscape.


There is all a display for the Ion engine. Well if you thought that blue engines were just in Star Trek you are wrong. Check out the new fuel source and how the blue color happens with Ion engines. They have an interactive display with more information.

Marist College Island

So as someone from the Husdon Valley and someone who drives past Marist College on a regular basis, when I saw they had their own Island I had to stop and see it.

Wow, what a beautiful place. From the trees and flowers to the gas laterns lighting the walk ways, everything looks nice. There are also several fountains and a bridge that connects the town to the college.

Now I'm not a Marist grad or teacher... but I would not mind teaching one day, but I had to get a hat and shirt to support the local college. They had a small shop with clothing branded with the Marist logo and name. It was great to shop for some stuff from the college in SL.

There were also some other shops, like the Dutchess County Wine Store. They had a few note cards about some local wines and a free wine glass (red and white). That was just in the "town" side of the island. Many of the small building are currently empty and I'm very interested to see what other shops from the Hudson Valley end up in here.

The College side of the island looks more like a traditional college. As I walked around inside the college building I stumbled into the server room... my only question would be where are all the wires? It is the cleanest server room I've ever seen. :-)

The College has several large rooms with chairs for lectures as well as smaller areas for meetings.

As I continued to wonder around the island I noiced a light house, monorail, dock and with boats, lots of open space, and signs that seem to seperate the island into sections; North, South, East and West.

I took a few pictures because I love to document where I've been in SL with photos. If you have not been to Marist in the real world, then taking a trip to Marist in SL is fantastic. The RL Marist is a fantastic campus and the SL one is just as nice.

Norte Dame De Cyberie Church

So I'm always looking for places that look like real world places in SL. While looking around I came across Notre Dame Church. It is a fairly nice representation of the Church. I took a picture from the inside and out side to show people the look and feel. Not a bad little place to take a group to see this famous building.

The Day Before Halloween at ISTE

Well as I may not get on tomorrow I thought I would look around today at some more festive decorations. It is so cool that in SL you can have smiling ghosts, dancing skeletons, and flying skeletons. So much more then the average home in RL can have.

So as is my norm I stopped by ISTE to see who was around and to check out the decorations. They've added more since last week so it looks even better. I had to force some sunshine to get a good picture, but it was midnight and looked great.

Splash Aquatics

Well some how I found this place and I was not to sure what to expect, but as I look around it has some interesting aspects. Once you get past all the items for sale, they have a spot that is like a muesum/aquarium. It is a nice little walk through with places to see and do things. I took a moment for some fun and posed inside a sharks mouth.

They have a neat poster on one wall that is a cut-away view with the labeled anatomy of a whale and of a shark. Right next to the poster is a tidal pool with different birds and animals that you would find there.

One of the neatest things though was the undersea walk. You walk through a glass tunnel with fish all around. If you use the mouse look to explore, you will also see dolphines, rays, jelly fish, sharks, eels, and a whale. There is even a place up on the top level to enter the water that you walked through the tunnel.

Halloween is Coming

Well it is one week to Halloween and SL is really showing the spirit of the season. I have seen many different location decorated with the feel of Halloween. Here are some examples of Halloween in full gear.

ISTE Island:

When you get the main entrance on ISTE Island you will be greeted by what appears to be a floating/flying ghost. The ghost is actually a skeleton with a hooded cloak. There are also phantom lights floating around it. This could be a lot of fun as ghost/skeleton follows a pattern but looks cool flying there. They also have some pumpkins sitting by the bulletin board.

NOAA Virtual Island:

When I first got here today, it looked normal, but as I turned around and began to move I noticed pumpkins every where. It looks like someone placed pumpkins all over the place; in door ways, near benches, and down walk ways. There were even some on the runway.

Well if I find some more I'll post thme, but watch out for ghosts and goblins as we get closer to Halloween!

Educational Information

I've been adding a lot of information to my wiki and other blog, as well as podcasting with a friend and coworker. This information is for educators who would like to learn more about technology in the classroom. Take a look at the links on my blog to check out some of the new information that has been added recently.

Please contact me if you have classroom technology ideas you would like to share and I'll gladly add them on to the wiki and blog. Stay tuned for more from the weekly podcast as well as we continue through the end of 2007.

Thanks!

Renaissance Island

What an interesting place to see! I have had a blast walking around this area and readnig the notecards for the different sections. They have a Bulwark fortification with cannons mounted, a cathedral, docks, a market square, and so much more. It is a nicely rendered look at an old time village with all the look and feel. They have gardens with flowers and herbs located in the village area as well. There is also a representation of the Globe Theater.



It would be a great place for a Social Studies teacher to take a class on a tour. Offering up a chance to see the area as it would have looked in that time period. Also, if an English teacher was to do a reinactment of a play or scene from Shakspeare in the Globe Theater, what a great experience for the students.

This picture is of the Reading Primley Bulwark.

Another Museum

The Museum of Motion Pictures, Memorabillia and Miscellany

This is an interesting museum with movie posters on the walls with different themes. The downstairs was filled with old horror moive posters (some being very old classics) as well as photos of different stars. The second floor had some great movie posters from some classics as well as a section for family movies (including some of my favorites like The Secret of Nimh and Watership Down).

Check it out as I'm hoping the continue to add more posters and photos. It is a very interesting trip trough the different posters of movies that have graced the silver screen.

Museums in Second Life

One of the things that I really enjoy about Second Life is the ability to see so many wonderful things in one place that you might not see together. One way to do this is to check out some of the museums around Second Life. As one of first trips back into the virtual world I've decided to some museum trips.

Virtual Starry Night:

Virtual Starry Night is the Second Life Van Gogh exhibit. As you walk around the exhibit you will see many of the different works that Van Gogh created. Some of these have been rendered in 3D so that you can move around them. This exhibit not only shows his masterpieces, but also a small expo from Gaugin who lived with Van Gogh in Arles, France. Pictured to the left is the 3D rendering of the painting The Courtyard of the Hospital at Arles that is hanging on the wall. It is really neat to be able to walk through his painting. The next picture is just a sample of some of the paintings that are on display in the exhibit. I chose to get a picture of the Irises as they are one of my favorites in real life. I would recommend this museum/exhibit to anyone interested in art or a teacher who is looking to show case some culture or art appriciation.

Again, I would highly recommend this museum as it was a fantastic walk through as well as being able to see pieces from collections that are not in one place in the real world. Fantastic for anyone who enjoys some art.

I'll try and add a few more on as time permits!

ISTE Island

Well I was hanging out on ISTE Island and I had a chance to talk with several people. I know that during the day it is quite there, but it was great to see about 5 people here today. I had a chance to discuss with one person about the uses of SL in Rural school districts. As a person who is looking to share technology in the classroom it is great to see the people trying SL and realizing it is not a game.

Well I'll be back online soon. I'm trying to do more in SL and I'm trying to do more with my blog!

Trying to Get Back On

Well as my computer has been upgraded and I now can get back into Second Life, I'll try and get some more posts going about Second Life in Education. It has been a while and now I really what to experience some new things and make some new treks. I hope to explore more of Second Life and cronicle my time here as a way to share that information.

I look forward to meeting and greeting more people in Second Life!

Congrats to Puritan's Guide!

A big congrats going out to Puritan's Guide to Second Life for getting mentioned in a news article! The artcile was quoting a section of her page about vocabulary terms in SL. Here is the Blog she did with the vocab that was quoted! It is a fantastic list that she compiled many months ago and added to 5 months ago

As I have traveled around Second Life, I have noticed my vocabulary has been increasing. There are terms and phrases that seem to turn my head every once in a while. Any new individual to Second Life, especially those teaching or students entereing, would want to become familiar with these terms so they can understand what they mean. The following is a basic small list of vocabulary used in virtual worlds:

*Alt – Refers to a resident’s other avatars. One person may own multiple avatars.
Animation Override - an enhancement to your avatar that overrides a basic function, like walking, to make it more lifelike.

*Avatar - 1) The digital representation of your virtual self in Second Life. Or, in plain English, the character in Second Life that's you; 2) Other people's characters. Generally, any other thing with a name above it (though there are very convincing cardboard cutouts in Second Life); 3) A "costume" or outfit; a full set of avatar body parts, clothing, and/or attachments that provides a specific look.

*Calling card - An inventory item you can trade with other residents. Calling cards serve as a contact list of sorts.

*Chat channel - One of over a billion pseudo-"frequencies" that objects and avatars can chat on. Avatars normally speak on channel 0, and can only hear chat on channel 0. Objects can chat and listen on any channel. For more information on chat channels go to http://secondlife.com/knowledgebase/article.php?id=116

*Derez - To remove (derez) an object from a sim within Second Life. This generally is done through deleting the object or taking the object into inventory.
Freebie - these are items is SL that are free. Some freebies are only for individuals that are in SL 30 days or less. This can be vouchers for hair from GUrl or money trees.

*Grid - The world of Second Life is sometime referred to as a "grid" or "the grid". One grid is what other virtual worlds may call one world or one "shard". All visible islands and regions on a map are included in the term "grid".

*Griefer – People who go around in Second Life and grief other avatars. It might be caging, shooting, etc. that is unexpected and not asked for; a form of terrorist attack on your avatar. Does not do harm and is more of a nuisance.

*Infohub - A Linden-owned location inworld. Infohubs used to be telehub centers for Second Life.

*Inworld - 1) Anything that takes place within the virtual environment of Second Life. 2) The state of being logged into Second Life.

*L$ - A Linden dollar (L$, "LindenBucks", or "Lindens") is the inworld Virtual Currency used in Second Life. Most transactions you make inworld with other residents will be made in L$.

*Lag, Laggy - 1) The delay inherent to a connection between two computers on the Internet, especially an unusually long delay between a client and a server. 2) A delay or interruption in a network or Internet connection caused by slow response times and/or lost or missing data. 3) (technically incorrect but popular usage) Slow or jerky performace in a 3D application caused by an overworked processor, memory bandwidth, video card, or hard drive. 4) (technically vague popular usage) Any situation where part of the Second Life experience is not performing as desired. http://secondlife.com/knowledgebase/article.php?id=273

*Machinima - Machine Animation or Machine Cinema, the art of creating movie-quality animations and other cool effects in SL.

*Mature - Second Life uses a rating system for sims to let the user know what type of content/behavior to expect in that area. Mature or (M) regions may include (among other things) profanity, nudity, and sexual content. The Second Life Community Standards still apply in these areas, so discretion is still recommended.

*Mouselook – Mouselook is the first-person camera view in SL, as seen from the eyes of the avatar. When in this mode the mouse is used to move the camera around, hence the name. Mouselook is often used for weapons, vehicles, and grabbing objects.

*Mule - the use of an avatar for carrying inventory items not used a lot by the main avatar. A Mule avatar is also used in many instanced to experiment with looks HUDs, skins, shapes, etc.

*Newbie - (popular usage) A newcomer to Second Life; a resident who has joined for a relatively short period of time and/or is not familiar or comfortable with Second Life's nuances. Also spelled 'noob' or 'n00b'.

*Notecard - A small text file within Second Life. You can embed pictures, landmarks, and even objects inside notecards.

*Primitive/Prim - The basic building block of Second Life, also called a 'prim'. All in-world objects are constructed from primitives. A prim is a basic shape (such as a box, sphere, cylinder, etc.) that can be manipulated, stretched, cut, twisted, hollowed, and otherwise mangled into various forms. A builder can link a collection of prims together to form one cohesive object. The math works out to 15,000 prims for each 65,536 m2. So for example, a 512 m2 parcel has 117 prims, a 4096 m2 parcel has 937.

*Region - A named area within Second Life, also commonly referred to as a simulator or a sim. Second Life is divided into square regions, each 256m on a side and assigned a name. The regions are aligned and assembled so that the borders between them are, for all intents and purposes, seamless. You can stand a one side of a region border, with your friend on the other. Despite the fact that the two of you are in different regions, you can chat freely, throw a baseball across, even drive a car back and forth, without interruption. Current limit to a region is of 65536 m2 (256m x 256m)*Rez - (commonly attributed to the movie 'Tron') 1) To bring an object into 3d-space within Second Life. This is usually done by dragging the object from inventory into the world. 2) To create a new primitive in Second Life through the building tools.
Sim – Sims in Second Life are characterized by the area. Generally, 25 -30 active avatars can be in a sim before it lags or slows down. Avatars that are observing or watching can be between 50 and 75 in a sim before it lags. There may be multiple sims in a region.

*SLURL - a link you can click on in a web browser that takes you to a particular place in SL. A Slurl is made up by the following format: http://slurl.com/secondlife/region/xcoordinate/ycoordinate/zcoordinate Anyone can make an Slurl with this formula.

*Telehub - (deprecated) A centralized teleport location in Second Life. When using a telehub in Second Life, you arrived at the closest telehub to your intended location. You could then fly to your destination from there. Telehubs are no longer in Second Life; you can teleport directly to your destination.

*Teleport - To instantly travel to a location (as opposed to manually walking or flying there). Residents can teleport via the map, with landmarks, or through invitations given by other residents.

* Actual definition from http://secondlife.com/knowledgebase/index.php?action=glossary

Much thanks Dembe for the great list!

Tech Tools for Teachers

Tech Tools 4 Teachers

http://techtools4teachers.mypodcast.com/index.html Karen and I ventured out today and decided to start a Podcast for Educational Technology. Above is the link to our podcast site. You can subscribe by RSS using iTunes, My Yahoo, Google, Podcast. We will be podcasting every Friday afternoon, please check out our podcast and joint blog - Bits n Bytes News .

Our Schudule:
Web 1.0 vs. Web 2.0
Great Educational Blogs and Wikis: Must Know Teacher Sites
Second Life and Education
Social Networking
Social Bookmarking
M-Learning Trends
Gaming and Learning
Distance Learning
Data Assistance and the Teacher
Who is the Millennial Child?
Internet Safety
Educational Web 2.0 Sites
SmartBoard and the Senteo in the Classroom
Year 2007 in Review

Summer and Vacations are almost over

Well as the summer is coming to a close and I'll be back to worksoon, I just finished a fantastic vacation to visit the Mouse in Florida! Disney World is and will always be a favorite spot for me. I guess that I'm a little like Peter Pan and that don't want to grow up. Although the new Everesat ride was spectacular for us who like those rides.

Kenedy Space Center is also a great spot for having some fun. The new Shuttle Launch Experience there was ffantastic and really felt like being on a launch... it was that loud!

Protopages

Well I know it is not a part of Second Life, but I wanted to share his with everyone who reads this blog. Protopages is a really cool way to create a custom webpage with information that you want to share or keep private. I've cdreated one to share so you can see it in action. This one is shared so take a look and see what you think. http://www.protopage.com/seanbanks#Untitled/Welcome

I've added a few links so that people who visist or bookmark the protopage will have access to some of the best information out on the web. Please feel free to share this information with anyone you like, although some of it was really ment for teachers and educators.

Welcome Back!

Well it has been a wile and I now have Second Life running at home. It has been several months and wow things have changed ever so slightly. I have noticed several small changes, but all in all everything looks great! I'm glad to be back inSL and I can't wait to meet up with some familiar people and have some fun.

It's been a while

Sorry for the lack of posting. I've had no time to truly devote to being in Second Life, so it has been a while since I explored. The first life has been calling hard, so I had to answer the call.

I've been working on a resource for teachers called tools-4-teachers.wikispaces.com which is free for all teachers to use. This has been using up most of my free time, as well as finding some new and fun things to do with Blogs.

I hope I can get some more posted soon and that I'll be back in Second Life.

Info Island

Well I finally went to Info Island... and I was not disappointed. Very interesting island with a ton of information. This was a fantasitc visit and I'm hoping to learn more while here. Here are a few of the things that I did and saw while here.














1. Babbler

This HUD allows you to translate from several different languages. I'll have to find someone to chat with who speaks one of the languages that is listed so that I can how it works. The concept is pretty cool and I'm excited to see how it works.













2. Presentation

There is also a large stadium area for large instruction or presentations. The view is fantastic with all the different flags around the perimeter. There are many seats around the outside for people to sit for presentations.
















3. Holodeck

There is also a Holodeck that you can travel into and explore. It was very interesting to teleport into it and look around. I can see how this type of technology could be used to really enhance lessons for teachers.

There is also information galour here. I would recommend checking it out and seeing what is new there.

Tools-4-Teachers Wiki

I have been creating a Wiki for online tools for teachers. These tools range from interactive websites, games, webcams, and open source software. I have added several new categories and more information recently, and I'll continue to add more as I find it.

Here is the link to the Wiki: https://tools-4-teachers.wikispaces.com/.

It is a restricted Wiki so that not anyone who just stumbles onto it will be able to make changes, but if you would like to take a look or become a member, please let me know and I'll invite you to join.

NECC

So as I was wondering around the Ghost Town that is Second Life today, I realized that many of the people I know are down at NECC. I hope the event is fantastic and that everyone is having a great time. Hope to see more people on later so I can get some details about the event!

Posting Delays

Well I have been swamped in RL with a ton of work and with evening night classes. I have not had time to really explore... and SL has been buggy with my computer and not letting me log in. Now that I'm back to an almost normal schedule, I'll be doing some more exploring and blogging. I hope that everyone enjoys the blog and I promise to try and get some new posts up soon.

See you in SL!

Greenbush Education Island

So I have not been online very often for the past few weeks. I have not had a chance to really explore or look around. As I had a few moments I thought I might follow up on some items I have been meaning to do for a while now, just to see what was new.

In my wonders I come across this fantastic auditorium. It is located on Greenbush Education Island. It is an island tied to a University in Kansas. I had a chance to talk to one of the members there and he was full of great information. The auditorium that they have is free for educators to use for discussions or meetings.


They have a podcast that you can listen to right in their podcast center... just watch out for that first step off, it is a long way down.

They have a Vendor Tower which currently looked like they were looking for some vendors to have a space in it. I would love to see some of the businesses take a leap of faith and be sponsors in educational locations in SL. The number of educators that are now in SL is growing and it would be nice to see some additional vendors in SL just like in RL.

Roleplaying in Education

This evening I had a chance to attend a conference that included a fantastic discussion about Roleplaying in education, and how Second Life might fit in. It was held in the ISTE's skypark. The discussion feel into several different components, but he covered topics around historical roleplaying, "Never Land" roleplaying, and science roleplaying. The presenters name is Wainbrave Bernal. His note card was fantastic and covered almost everything that was discussed. I would recommend heading to ISTE to see if you can find it after the event.

It was interesting to see the diversity of educators in the session. I mean there was a Dragon in the back row!!! As was pointed out in so many other blogs, educators need to do something different to catch students attention, and if that means your avatar is a furry or a dragon, then it might help.

Voice Conversations in SL

So I have heard about it, but never saw it for real. While exploring the College of Second Knowledge, I found a kiosk that was giving out free headsets with directions on how to use Skype to have voice conversations while in Second Life. The headset looks like one of those small Bluetooth headsets people use with their cell phones.

Once I found the information, I then went and downloaded Skype so that I could give this a try. I need to know figure out how to use it and find some other people with it, but I figure this is the first step to getting some voice conversations going in SL, something I've been very curious about.

So know that I have it, I may have to set it up and get it going so that I can try chatting. If you see me and you have one, let's give it a try and see how it works.

ISTE in SL

ISTE, the International Society for Technology in Education, has a space in second life located on Eduisland. It is a great place for teachers and students looking for some more information about technology in education. The owner of this location, Kittygloom, has set up multiple levels so that there are numorous locations for people to explore and interact while at ISTE.

First, there is the main entry, and the building itself. There is a lot of information for teachers in the ISTE building and I would encourage people to take a look and see what is new. The is a survey to let the owner know a little bit about yourself as you look around. It is quick and easy to fill out. There is also a bulliten board in the room so that messages can be posted and viewed. There are also many of the books that ISTE publishes as well as some of the magazines on the wall for people to order or get more information about. Many times during the day there is a Docent (a person who is here to greet and answer questions) as you enter the area. It has been a great experience for me to meet more educators and make new friends. There are also many other resources to check out.
Next there Skypark, with space for conferences and open air discussions. I have had a few great conversations with people in the Skypark. It is a great place to meet people and have discussions. I think some times the socials are up there, but as I have not had time to attend one, I think that is where they are.
Finally there is the sandbox. Like most sandboxes, it is a great place to look over all the items you have in your inventory. All those great freebie places give you some fun stuff, but when you need a place to view your collection... the sandbox is a great place.
Well for now I'll leave some things for you to explore. I'll post more about ISTE and what is there later. Take a few moments and see who is there and what is going on.

NOAA in SL

So I have been looking at places that teachers and students could go to for some information and fun. I've seen NOAA at the International Spaceflight location as well as the Science School, so I went for a search. I found some interesting things to do and see here at NOAA that could be used by teachers and schools. Get the HUD as it will give you information as you travel around.

You can take a ride hanging on to a weather balloon. As the balloon floats around information is narrated to you through the HUD that they give you for free when you arrive on the island. I'm not sure what happened, but some how I let go and found myself falling. I managed to fly before hitting the ground, but it was pretty interesting.

I also walked over to a glacial exhibit. There is a animation sequence that takes you through the thawing of a glacier. You can click on the different times during the thaw, or you can animate it and watch the whole thaw.

You can also take a mini sub tour. You sit in the sub and it will take you on an undersea tour. It was really interesting to see all the work they put into the undersea side of their island, not just the top side. Again having the HUD to explain all the sites was fantastic. It was interesting to see all the different animals that they have on/around their island. They have populated the island with Orcas, Dolphins, Fish, Crabs, Jelly Fish, and so much more.

One of the most interesting things I saw was the Tsunami simulator. The HUD walked you through each step and you had a chance to learn about the Tsunami and then watch as it went through each of it's phases. As there is no safe way in RL to get this type of view or first hand look, this was a fantastic way to see it all. The best part is, that with a click everything is back to normal. No one is hurt and nothing is destroyed.

I would recommend that you take a look at this island and really explore it. They offer many different tours and experiences that should not be missed. Even if you are not into science or are a teacher/student, this is a cool island to check out. I've only mentioned a few of the things to do and see here, explore and find some more... maybe even add a comment with some of the other things you saw.

BLOGS

Well I have a few friends who now have blogs about Second Life. I'm going to use this post to link a few in. I think that many people may have seen some of these, but I'll post them here any way.

http://www.victoriagloucester.net/

http://www.puritansguidetosecondlife.blogspot.com/

Parachute Fun

Well I found a parachute and decided to see how it works. I flew up into the sky and then stopped flying. I quickly typed PULL and out came the chute. It was pretty cool as you drop slowly to Earth and see all the different things around you.

I then decided to take it one step further and went to a friend's house in the sky. It was a little nerve wracking looking over the edge and not seeing anything below me. But knowing I had my trust parachute... I jumped. I waited a few seconds (with my arms flailing) and then typed PULL. Ahhh... the view was fantastic. I took a few pictures as I was descending just because I thought it looked so cool. One person has there house supported by balloons. I saw another that looked like an open book.
I then turned around and all I could see was this red sun set. It was really cool. The drop did not take that long, but was really cool.

The chute looks like a small fanny pack that is hardly visible on the avatar. To open and close the chute you need to type PULL or CLOSE. I would recommend everyone taking a chance and taking a jump. It is the safest way to parachute and a heck of a lot of fun.

Science School - Universtiy of Denver

So on the same island as the International Spaceflight Museum is another great place to see science in SL, the Science School through the University of Denver. Every time I stop by this location there is something new to see or try.

Recently they have added a fantastic weather map of the United States. You have several options on the map to display. You can display the map, the weather, temperature, and state boundaries. The weather is actually shown with Rain and Clouds in the different locations.

They have also made an interactive chess board. 2 players can sit down opposite each other and play a game of chess. I played a game against a friend and lost very badly. It was interesting to play a game of chess on-line with your opponent actually across the table from you.

They also had a number of experiments that you could participate in and actually manipulate the devices. They also had some fantastic displays that demonstrated concepts like the shadow of an eclipse, the distance from the Earth to the Moon, and the orbit of the moon around the Earth.

The experiments include:

1. Temperature - you can set the radiator to different levels and see how a tree would react.
2. A yes/no question about what gases absorb infrared light
3. A infrared photon generator

There are many other fantastic things to see and do. I would highly encourage teachers and educators to check this location out.

International Spaceflight Museum

I have always been a huge fan of NASA and when ever I go to Florida I
take time to go to the Kennedy Space Center. When I found the International Spaceflight Museum I was excited! I know I mentioned this site before in another blog, but I really wanted to spend a few minutes talking about this one specifically.

This location has some fantastic sites to see and some interactivity as well. One cool feature is the spinning globe. It plays a movie of several different globes. One of the Earth with clouds, another of an inferred view of Mars, the third is an inferred view of Earth, and finally a view of the lights from Earth. The view of all the lights at night was amazing!

There is also a rocket park where they have created many of the different rockets through the ages. It is really cool to be able to fly in SL so that you can get a birds eye view of these rockets... I know you can use the different views as well, but why not just fly!

There are also several cubes that you can walk right into. On the inside of the cube there is a 360 degree picture of the inside of a lander and I believe a shuttle cockpit. These cubes give a fantastic panoramic view.

There is also a planetarium. The planetarium offers a show with motion and descriptions. It is a pretty fantastic show and worth a few minutes to watch and learn.

There are also several different interactive components located on the grounds. There is a robotic arm that you can control. It offers six different ranges of motion. One of the biggest thrills was the trip to outer space! You actually ride a rocket up to the International Space Station and can then explore. From there you can teleport to Mercury. From Mercury you can begin the tour of the Solar System. This tour is full of fantastic information.

There is also a conference center right in the middle that can accommodate quite a few people with multiple screens for presentations. There is so much more, but I'll let you take a look and see what you see.

My brother!

Well I created an alt account so that I could have an account that was just for educational purposes and one for general purposes. So I'd like to welcome my "Brother" Macros Taurog to Second Life! His goal is to learn more and to work with teachers and students from an educational stand point. He is going to be around and having some fun like me, but will be focusing in on the educational aspect of Second Life. Some times his blogs will be added on to this one so that we will be able to share everything that we have learned here.

Wow, now that I'm done with my second personality... It is time for Macros to begin his journey in Second Life!

Education in Second Life

Well I've now explored and visited several great places in Second Life. Some of these places that I have traveled to are just for fun, but I have found a few that are a blast from an educators point of view. One such place is the International Spaceflight Museum located at slurl.com/secondlife/spaceportalpha/79/120/23

This location offers a number of resources that are fantastic, including mock-ups of rockets, spinning globes, several experiments, a gift shop, and a conference area. There are several prims that you can walk into and see the inside of different objects in a 360 degree view. If you like science or NASA, then this is the place to check out. I'll be posting some more about this site and some of the other science sites soon.

Milamber's Tour of Second Life

Well here is my real blog about this world called Second Life. I'm traveling and exploring through this new world so as I find new experiences I'll be posting and sharing. I have experienced so much so far and will be attempting to back log some of this information.

Welcome to my experience!