first time on Second Life

Hi all,

Before going on SL for the first time, my feelings could be summed up as:

1. Too much to learn - it'll be too slow - I don't have enough time;

2. I'm not alone, there's the intro2sl wiki, group & blog;

3. Ten years ago, I felt the same way about computers, but have developed strategies for dealing with problems and am able to (mostly) enjoy working within the seemingly perpetual learning curve and continual change.


After going on SL on and off for a couple of weeks, a fair assessment of my reaction is:

1. To make any sense, SL has to be used to communicate with others;

2. Go in with an agenda and/or with other people - thank goodness for Dennis and participants here;

3. I'm really excited & inspired by the (education) potential - how soon can I start using SL for teaching? - a sharing approach is essential.


Chris

p.s. Coming soon - a before and after avatar expression

Aha - free to blog at last!

Just a quick note to say that I went to the Rearch Group at Monash University earlier.

I flew around for a while looking here and there, but decided that the crowd on the ground had to be where it was at. The talk sounded interesting but went a bit above my head, well nearly all of it did as soon as I landed ;-)



I'm always interested in presentation modes, and here they had the main speaker using voice, whilst the audience were able to type in requests and such like. Unfortunately the sound quality was distorting a lot - after suggestions from the crowd, it improved slightly, but it was still a problem. Shame.

One thing I've started doing on and off, is to click on an avatar to bring up the grey circle of options, and then click on 'profile' so that I can scroll through their group memberships. By clicking on a likely sounding group, a new card pops up with a little bit of info about the group. There is usually an option to join up too.

It feels a bit nosey, but it's kind of a short cut to finding out interesting groups, and so I think it's ok.

Disappointments, frustrations and annoyances

Sigh. Life may not be full of them, but Second Life is.

I'm still struggling with a teleporter which tonight:

Dropped me out of the sky nowhere near where I wanted to go.
Dropped me into the sea that was quite a long way down even for an avatar that cannot drown or catch a cold.




Then I went to the Globe to listen to some music.

And what happened?

My system produced no sound.

Made it to ISTE

Feeling very pleased with myself tonight !!
I used my landmarks and teleported from the Sistine chapel ( quite a lonely visit - even though it is very impressive ) to ISTE.
Managed to look around and check out various notice boards. I met two nice members who were busy trying to set up their microphones - to no avail. One of them had to log off and reconfigure the microphone ( A taste of things to come !) .

I tried to use the laptops but they were members only.
I also met a fellow teacher from Norway and we discussed SL and teaching - she was also a teacher of teens and unable to use SL in school. She suggested I join ISTE and gave me cards and info to do so. So all in all I felt pleased about meeting people and discussing work issues - I even managed to add her to my friends list.
One member then shuffled across and made remarks about us all cuddling up next to the fire ....... time to go back to RL for some more marking !!!!
Bye for now
Helen
aka Juniper

ISTE workshop

Last Saturday I went to the ISTE workshop, but before that I decided to go and see the place. I sat for a while to enjoy the beautiful landscape, and relax with all that peace.

Then, back to RL and back again to the workshop. At the reception desk somebody received me and gave me a card which I used to get to the site ( Great relief, I thought I would have to fly and walk to get to the right place -no use to ask, I've found few people wandering in the places I've been to)
I got to the worshop site, and as it had already started I decided to remain in the back - I didn't know the ettiquete for behaving there either. I was walking and couldn't see anything. Two reasons: it was full of people looking at the stage from floating seats, and the tags avatars usually carry over their heads with titles and names. Well, as I couldn't see I decided to float-fly and see from there. Then my RL phone rang and had to get it, a friend of mine wanting to talk, and I wanted to be in my SL... when I got back everthing had finished and people had gone.

Andrearookie was there and offered to take me to the place everybody was, we flew and walked.

There I was practicing how to create a bookcase and puff!!! My connection got lost, and was kicked out of SL.
So, still have to create that object, but I know it is in my inventory, somebody sent it there.

5 of us met in SL 7 December 2008

Five of us met last night in SL. We stayed in my villa and moved slowly through it until we got to the veranda. There was a buffalo in the small, sitting room.



/>







Present were: Helen, Mary Jane, Chris, Ingrid. Nahir

Meet you at the ISTE workshop

Spotting a message saying the workshop began in 2 hours, I went once more to the island several of us have visited frequently over the weekend.......It was 11:00 GMT.


But........

I was still absolutely alone.


ALL ALONE ON AN ISLAND IN SECOND LIFE