I spoke Wednesday at Bryant and Stratton College’s in-world graduation for its online students, which I thought was a great Second Life moment. So rewarding to see Second Life starting to be really useful for education. I did the new thing of actually writing some thoughts down as a speech and then reading it – I have never done that before. So I’m sure I probably sounded a bit wooden to the students listening, but I wanted to really give some deeper thoughts on the event. Anyhow, here is what I said:
“I heard it said recently that engineering students entering college today will learn computer languages which will be outmoded and no longer be in use by the time they graduate. This is a remarkable suggestion: because as an engineering student graduating fairly recently, in 1992, I learned languages which served me well and in fact some 10 years later formed the basic building blocks of this digital place where we stand today for your graduation. But as both a futurist thinker and in my own experiences at my own company, I couldn’t agree more: In the past 4 or 5 years I have seen the rise of whole new computing architectures unlike anything that existed when I was in school. New technology platforms rise up and are built upon, rapidly obscuring the lower layers like sediment. We don’t build software for computers anymore, instead we build Facebook and IPhone apps. And those whole platforms didn’t even exist when Second Life launched in 2003.
It is this building of one thing on another that makes technology so exciting and terrifying. Each advance creates tools or a platform that is used to make the next advance possible, and at least twice as fast as the one before. Whether you are talking about computers, or batteries, or cell phones, or bioscience, we are now in the knee of the curve – the place where this acceleration suddenly becomes noticeable. The crazy thing though, is what happens next. The curve goes from rapid growth to an almost vertical climb toward infinity. The company that took 2 years to start in the 1990’s takes a month today, and you can imagine a place like Second Life reducing that to 2 days. The IPhone that we marvel at today – well in less than 10 years time that same amount of technology will fit inside one of your cells. What will the world look like with changes of that magnitude? Honestly I don’t know, and I don’t think anyone else does either.
But fighting or ignoring these technology changes is like standing in the water at the beach and letting the waves hit you… can you remember doing that as a kid? If you were strong, you could brace yourself and stay standing as the smaller waves crashed by you and the sand slid away under your toes. But we live now in a time when each set of waves is twice as high as the one before, and to resist these larger waves, to pretend that they aren’t there or that you can stand against them quickly becomes hopeless. Our hope and future lies instead in letting go of the bottom, surrendering ourselves and our pasts, and letting these waves carry us where they may, working instead to catch our breaths and try and figure out where we are going. This isn’t an easy thing. It is frightening. In whatever world that is to come, we won’t yet know our own value or where we stand. How we will make money is uncertain. Our friends, lovers, and co-workers won’t be the neighbors we grew up with, but instead will be people from all over the world, people our parent’s probably would never have even seen or met.
This college, and many of you as students, are from the United States, a country which at this very moment faces a serious economic crisis. It seems unbelievable but possible that the US dollar could soon lose it’s status as the reserve currency – the gold standard – for the rest of the world. The banks and industrial giants that drove so much historical growth in the US economy are declaring bankrupcy. So much change after decades of constancy! But does this mean that as the most recent children of the US educational system that you have already become as outmoded as the computer languages I mentioned earlier? It does not.
By standing here at a formal graduation ceremony in the midst of a strange new virtual world, you are the embodiment of what I believe is the greatest and most unique part of the American Spirit – the willingness to take great risks: to learn, to change, and to accept uncertainty. This same spirit is what made at least some of your parents delighted and not dismayed to learn that you were going to be part of a virtual graduation. I have traveled the world, and nowhere but here in America have I seen this persistent willingness to do new things and take chances. You could be ridiculed for graduating as avatars, for wearing digital caps and gowns, but you are unafraid and in fact excited, or at the very least, amused. This spirit, the one that made you willing to stand here today, will make you winners in the times to come. As technology makes the future less and less certain, erasing the borders between countries, and rewriting the economic landscape, you can and will prevail if you strive to be as changeable and adaptable as your avatars. Don’t trust the specific things you have learned, because they will change faster around you than you can imagine. Trust instead that you have learned how to learn, and that by taking chances and letting go, you can ride the waves that are coming. Graduating here today, in Second Life, is good evidence that you can.”
SEARCH FOR THE GOLDEN HEARTS..and other Happy Valentine’s from Linden Lab!
It’s Valentine’s Day and Second Life is aflutter with love! This year, in addition to the Kiss a Linden, Kiss a Volunteer event and an unveiling of a newly revamped Cupid Linden avatar, we invite you all to explore your world in search of the Valentine’s Day Golden Heart!
Here are the contest rules:
Contest runs from 12:00am PST (midnight) on Friday, February 13 until 12:00am PST (midnight) February 15
More than 1000 candy boxes are scattered around Second Life
These Boxes are filled with candy hearts to collect and trade (including special edition Linden Lab hearts)
Mixed in are 20 special boxes containing golden hearts
Those who find the golden hearts will win L$5000 credit at Xstreet SL
Search the world and find them all!
And, we have a second valentine for you….
We’ve made it easier to share the love with a new gifting feature on Xstreet. You can now send a gift directly to any avatar in Second Life. Here’s how:
Go to Xstreet, find the gift you want and click on it.
On the right, you will see box, “Choose Payment Method”
When you click “Purchase as a gift”, write in the recipient’s name.
Complete your purchase, and the gift will be delivered to the lucky Resident!
Take our Valentine’s Day Survey
In the future, we’ll be adding new features like registries, and we need your help! We’re sending an email survey to a select group of Residents to help shape these features. Take the survey and opt-in to a focus group so we can make this product serve your needs.
So send a little love this Valentine’s Day, and make this the year when you don’t have to say, “it’s in the mail”. Of course, you can always claim Friday the 13th….
Happy Valentine’s Day!
FINE PRINT
1. Eligibility. Contest is open to all Second Life® world Residents (“Residents”) in good standing, 18 and older as of the start of the Contest. Residents of embargoed countries, countries where such contests are not legal or where access to the Second Life world has been blocked or disabled, as well as Employees and affiliates of Linden Research, Inc. (“Linden Lab”), and their familiies are not eligible to participate. Contest void where prohibited. Subject to all international, federal, state and local laws. No purchase is necessary to enter and win
2. How to Enter. Between the hours of 12:00am PST (midnight) on Friday, February 13 until 12:00am PST (midnight) February 15, explore the Second Life world in search of up to 20 Golden Heart objects. Along the way, you may also discover other special edition Linden Lab Candy Heart boxes scattered around. Click on the Golden Heart to claim it!
3. Prizes. Total Linden Dollars (LS) awarded as prizes: L$100,000, to be awarded to twenty (20) Residents as (20) awards in the amount of L$5000 Xstreet SL credit, There is no monetary value associated with the Prize, and (as with all L$) no promise or guarantee of redemption of any or all L$ awarded. The prize is for entertainment purposes only. Note: you will need an active Xstreet SL account to claim your prize. Register here: http://xstreetsl.com/
4. Prize distribution: Gifts will be awarded by Linden Lab via email, inworld or by mail. Linden Lab will notify winners by mail, in-world or e-mail of procedures for redeeming prize. The prizes must be accepted as awarded and cannot be exchanged for cash or credit. Winners who do not wish to accept the prize as offered may opt to forfeit the prize. There will be no substitutions. Awards are limited to one award per each natural (actual “real world”) person.
Coming from Australia and working for Linden Lab in our San Francisco office, I am always keeping an eye out for the activities that are happening in my home country. My focus at Linden Lab is in the enterprise space, so I generally see the great work that has come out of several Australian corporations. This week, however, my attention has been focused on the amazing Second Life community that has rallied in support of the devastating bush fires that have hit Australia.
As many of you are aware, these fires are one of the worst natural disasters to hit Australia in over 100 years. In response, Residents have created several inworld campaigns to raise funds to donate to relief efforts, from donation boxes to concerts to vendors selling clothing to support the cause. There’s already been some great coverage of these efforts from outlets including Massively, the MetaverseJournal, and New World Notes.
Seeing Residents come together like this is another powerful reminder of the breadth and strength of our global community and another great example of how Second Life is being used in ways that can really make a difference in the real world.
I’d like to thank those who have initiated fundraising efforts or given their support to this cause. Please describe/link to your inworld relief efforts in the forums.
We’ve got hugging & kissing booths where you can share your affections with both the Lindens and Resident Volunteers who’ve shown so much L-O-V-E to our community! (Don’t forget to snap a photo of the occasion!)
We’ve also got lots of freebies and other Valentine’s Day goodies — including T-shirts, Linden bear collectibles located at the booths, special limited edition collectible Second Life candy hearts and more!
Lindens will be on Isle of View and Isle of ViewToo from 7-9 AM and 5-7 PM PST for Kiss-A-Linden
And for Teen Residents, Lindens will be present on Hugsville for Teens from 3-5 PM PST
Never met a Linden before, or would like to thank a volunteer personally? Come on over and enjoy the lovin’! Who knows, you might even get lucky and run into Cupid Linden who has an all new look!
Related Valentine’s Day Surprises Coming Later in the Week!
Watch this blog later this week for exciting information about the 2009 Second Life Valentine’s Day golden heart contest. This weekend your inworld explorations may lead you to discover a special golden heart, which contains a prize that will tickle your heart!
To support the educational community, we would like to invite you to participate in and attend Linden Lab’s inaugural Education Support Faire! Over the years, Second Life has provided ways for the world of academia to put to use creativity lending to immersive education, distance learning, knowledge sharing, faculty networking–and many other ways to enhance the collective educational community’s efforts in the real world. The success of projects surrounding these efforts within Second Life can be attributed to the many innovative educators, academics, and students who have chosen to utilize Second Life for these purposes.
The main goal for the Education Support Faire is to bring together educators, academics, and students to explore the support mechanisms available to residents who use Second Life to enhance real world educational efforts.
With many networks of support provided by and for residents in Second Life, we would like especially to extend an invite to Second Life educational minds to take part in presenting at the Educational Support Faire.
While, as examples, Linden Lab will provide information regarding our Concierge and knowledge base support services, there are numerous resident developed programs in Second Life designed to orient new and experienced educators or help educators explore Second Life educational and academic opportunities. We want you!
The event will be held January 25th-30th, at Supporte /151/152/36. The venue will be built around a natural atmosphere with trees, rivers, and beaten paths, highlighting the theme of ‘Ecosystems of Support.’ The event will combine both displays and scheduled presentations in a central pavilion.
Organizations or individuals who specifically provide support services for educators, students, or academics in Second Life and would like to utilize space or give a speaking presentation should contact Pathfinder by email (pathfinder [at] lindenlab [dot] com). Please provide some information about the educational support service being highlighted for booths; if speaking, please specify a day/time they would like to reserve, along with the topic. There will be a finite amount of space, so booths and speaking time at the central pavilion will be first-come first-served.
A final list of scheduled events and participating/presenting Resident Support Organizations will be emailed to the SLED mailing list on January 21st.
If you have not yet joined the SLED mailing list, please check this link for details!
We are excited about the growth of the Second Life educational community over the years, and look forward to highlighting the support that will help educators in the years to come!
As we roam the grid enjoying Winterfaire in Second Life, we wanted to take a moment to update you on some of what we did and learned at a different Resident-created event this year, Burning Life. The 6th annual Burning Life festival of fire, art and community took place from Sept 27 through Oct 5, 2008.
First, we would like to extend our appreciation to all the Residents who did such amazing work creating an environment that felt unique, held true to it’s real-life inspiration, and still used Second Life’s wonderful properties to full advantage.
Burning Life 2008
Much of what we report here builds on the Resident, Builder, Volunteer and Ranger surveys, conducted in part so we would be able to learn how we might improve Burning Life next year. We’ve learned a lot this year as the event grew in scale and ambition, and so we share those revelations to continue to build upon the legacy of Resident Burners before us.
Let’s start with some new things we tried this year:
Co-Community hosting with the Burning Man organization, which enabled the following:
Join us for the Winterfaire Grand Tour, through January 5, 2009 in Second Life
Festive holidays are upon us, Second Life is experiencing widespread snowfall, and Residents are decorating and celebrating. While our individual cultural traditions are diverse, Residents have created their own, homegrown fun, throughout our shared virtual world. It’s a cheerful sight to see so much gleaming snow, with delicate snowflakes falling….
Winterfaire runs until Jan. 5, 2009, and along with the many Resident-built and hosted locations and events to keep you busy and having fun all around Second Life, we’ve also got some delightful Linden-hosted events for you to join in as well. Click here for details on our:
Showcase Hot Spots! Daily updates through January 2nd
Snowman Building Contest, Dec 23rd, 11 AM-1 PM at Rainieron the Teen Grid!
Don’t Miss It! Residents vs. Lindens Snowball Fight, Dec 23rd and 24th
Look for your favorite Linden targets at the annual Residents vs. Lindens Snowball Fight in the following regions: Egan, Hatton, Moritz, and Prancer. December 23rd Noon til 10pm and December 24th, Noon til 7pm.
Shiver me timbers me hearties! If you’re a fan of all things nautical then we have exciting news! A new Mainland sailing area will soon appear off the coast of Nautilus in a joint community project between Linden Lab and the estate owners of the United Sailing Sims (USS) group.
For those that don’t know, the USS is made up of 9 private estates with 130+ regions between them, themed around sailing, yacht racing and similar sports.
Blake Sea, named after the legendary sailor Sir Peter Blake, will be to the east of the Nautilus City landmass and will cover over 40 regions in size, and almost all of them will be Homesteads. Around the eastern edge of Blake Sea will be the estates of the USS.
Blake Sea Map
This is the first time that we’ve allowed estates to connect to the Mainland in this way, and it is testimony to both the great community the USS has built up, and our desire to work with Resident groups to improve the Mainland experience in different and innovative ways.
Whilst the Sea will be Linden Land, we will be working closely with the USS to provide Sailing and other water activities, games and fun things to discover.
For all Residents, as well as the USS, this offers unprecedented open water to sail through, hang out in or just explore. There will be islands for viewing the regular USS race events and scripted boats or planes to ferry our intrepid residents safely across the Sea from Nautilus. If you haven’t tried sailing inworld, it might soon be time to give it a whirl!
As this project moves along, expect to see updates either here on the Blog or on the DPW wiki page.
Welcome to Winterfaire. At this time of year, when many North American Residents are experiencing chilly weather in real life, we like to turn on the Second Life snow machines, set up pointy trees and blinky lights, and settle down for the hush of long winter nights.
Many Residents have transformed their homes and land into beautiful winter snowscapes, and they invite you to come by for a walk in the woods, a warm drink by a fire, or some neighborly conversation.
This year, the Winterfaire Grand Tour can be accessed inworld, through the Search >> Showcase feature in the viewer, and also on the Showcase section of the Second Life website. Specifically, the “Hotspots” tab in the Showcase has been given over to Winterfaire’s “cool” places of interest (and scroll down the page for more.) Some of the locations on the tour are on private islands not normally open to the public, so be sure you don’t miss them!
Watch for New Winterfaire Grand Tour Locations in the Showcase
We will be rotating new tour locations into the Showcase throughout the event, which runs until January 5th, so visit the Showcase more than once to see all the wonderful offerings.
Snowman Building Contest
Mark your calendars for December 22nd when Sejong Linden and friends will host this year’s Snowman Building Contest. Two hours only, on the following Main Grid regions: I-World Festival, I-World Festival 2 and I-World Festival 3, between 11:00 AM and 01:00 PM PST.
Teen Grid Snowman Building Contest
The Teen Grid Snowman Building Contest will be on December 23rd, at the Rainier region, from 11:00 AM to 01:00 PM PST ( 2 hours).
And now, the Event We’ve All been Waiting For: Residents vs Lindens Snowball Fight
Don’t miss it. On December 23rd and 24th, you will have a chance to pelt your favorite Lindens with snowballs in the great Residents vs Linden Snowball Fight.
Wintery Fort for a Snowball Fight...
Look for your favorite Linden targets at the annual Winterfest Snowball Fight in the following regions: Egan, Hatton, Moritz, and Prancer. December 23rd Noon til 10pm and December 24th, Noon til 7pm.
We hope to see you there throwing things at us. We can beat you with one hand tied behind our backs.
Greetings. Pathfinder Linden here to discuss the growth and development of educational, scientific, and healthcare applications of Second Life, which I work to cultivate.
On December 1st, I had the honor of speaking at and attending World AIDS Day in Second Life.
The project goal is to provide HIV/AIDS information and outreach in Second Life, involving support group leaders and educators from around the world.
As Second Life grows and matures, I think we are seeing the emergence of a particularly beautiful pattern of organizations and individuals creating larger projects that change people’s lives for the better.
I like to call it an “Ecosystem of Support.” In a healthy developing ecosystem, life complements and depends on other life. Complex relationships between species translate into a robustness that helps all species thrive. More and more, I see this pattern in Second Life between people, groups and organizations.
In my presentation at World AIDS Day, I spoke about this pattern and encouraged people to help it grow even more.
Collaborative efforts to centralize and organize information like this include, for example, an amazing wiki on healthcare resources in Second Life.
With World AIDS Day and Karuna, we have a collection of real world organizations coming together to both fund and manage an ongoing project that addresses a serious public health issue. A vibrant new community of support has been created, kicked off by a very successful event that was attended by thousands of individuals.
In the future I look forward to writing more posts about about similar great projects in education, science and healthcare. And if you’d like to tell me about a particular one, please contact me in Second Life.
I’ll share my ideas on strategies for success, and update folks on how Linden Lab is working to better support these communities.
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