... no, not "one leg at a time".
IBM and Linden Labs (of Second Life fame) have succeeded in teleporting avatars from Second Life to a sim on an OpenSim server. (OpenSim is a project adapting the parts of Second Life technology that Linden Labs has released to Open Source.)
ibm-linden-lab-interoperability-announcement
While very cool from a technological point of view, I see this as a significant first step that is useful in the long run only if the avatar and all associated characteristics (clothing, animations, huds, inventory items, as well as ownership & permissions attached to existing items in each world, etc.) are also available for viewing, if not transferred for actual use. As presented in the video, and given LL's commitment to preserving creator's rights in SL, LL will be cautious about allowing indiscriminate transfer of items between environments. If inventory items are transferred, I'd expect there to be limitations governed by permissions settings (copy, modify, transfer).
As presented in the video, the process seems to work only between SL technology environments. The grid-to-grid nature of this implies an expansion of the "SLURL" addressing system, to incorporate not only the SL domain, but others as well.
I've seen references to discussions about interoperability standards between various VW's (from Linden and others). I'd expect that something along those lines would be necessary before true "web-like" access via non-proprietary systems could evolve.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Thursday, May 1, 2008
...and the (random) hits just keep on coming...
There have been a few articles to catch my attention this week. I thought I'd add links & follow up later with a brief comment or assessment.
First, I caught wind (gotta love Twitter) of an update to Fleep's Deep Thoughts, a blog by Chris Collins, aka Fleep Tuque in SL and *many* other SocNet venues. This post "Essayish: Traditional Learning Spaces in Virtual Worlds" is still under development, but provides a sense of Fleep's ability to analyze and comment of issues of interest to me and, I think, many who are interested in education virtual worlds.
Next up, an article in Campus Technology, "Idaho State Simulates Emergency Response in Second Life". This ties in quite well, I think with some of the uses we've been discussing in the Houston Serious Games Consortium.
Finally, while I try not to get political, here's an analysis from e-week of the voting patterns of the three presidential candidates regarding issues important to the IT sector. The voting records cited in "Clinton, Obama and McCain Vote For/Against Tech" break along age lines as one might expect.
No real surprises, but interesting nonetheless.
First, I caught wind (gotta love Twitter) of an update to Fleep's Deep Thoughts, a blog by Chris Collins, aka Fleep Tuque in SL and *many* other SocNet venues. This post "Essayish: Traditional Learning Spaces in Virtual Worlds" is still under development, but provides a sense of Fleep's ability to analyze and comment of issues of interest to me and, I think, many who are interested in education virtual worlds.
Next up, an article in Campus Technology, "Idaho State Simulates Emergency Response in Second Life". This ties in quite well, I think with some of the uses we've been discussing in the Houston Serious Games Consortium.
Finally, while I try not to get political, here's an analysis from e-week of the voting patterns of the three presidential candidates regarding issues important to the IT sector. The voting records cited in "Clinton, Obama and McCain Vote For/Against Tech" break along age lines as one might expect.
No real surprises, but interesting nonetheless.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Thoughtful, kindred spirits...
I continue to be amazed by Twitter. It's become as revelatory as an autumn stroll through the woods, every footfall scattering leaves and disturbing the earth, resulting in new-found sights and uncovered treasures.
I'm most astounded at the way Twitter leads me to new resources, new focal points, new loci of inspiration. In these past few days, I've found @melmcbride and @ehrenc. They feed Twitter in the manner most useful for me - occasional remarks or updates which are then elaborated upon in their blogs.
@melmcbride's blog "melanie mcbride online" gets to the good stuff quickly. She hooked me with her post "[steal] My Social Media Policy". I'm not sure that I agree with all of her points here, but she's forthright in stating that this is *her* policy, and may not be everyone's cuppa. I think it's a perfect starting place for anyone new to social media to avoid that helpless "too much information" feeling.
@ehrenc makes a similar case for a personal approach to social media with the post "The Meaning of Life On Twitter". The voice is lighter and a bit more personal, but the essence of the "Meaning of Life" rings true. The blog One Little Cog ranges far and wide - the latest post dealing with sociological considerations in subway car seating choices.
Melanie McBride and Ehren Cheung - keep overturning those rocks and kicking through those leaves - and then posting the results. I appreciate the little nuggets of info and personal viewpoint that you spread.
I'm most astounded at the way Twitter leads me to new resources, new focal points, new loci of inspiration. In these past few days, I've found @melmcbride and @ehrenc. They feed Twitter in the manner most useful for me - occasional remarks or updates which are then elaborated upon in their blogs.
@melmcbride's blog "melanie mcbride online" gets to the good stuff quickly. She hooked me with her post "[steal] My Social Media Policy". I'm not sure that I agree with all of her points here, but she's forthright in stating that this is *her* policy, and may not be everyone's cuppa. I think it's a perfect starting place for anyone new to social media to avoid that helpless "too much information" feeling.
@ehrenc makes a similar case for a personal approach to social media with the post "The Meaning of Life On Twitter". The voice is lighter and a bit more personal, but the essence of the "Meaning of Life" rings true. The blog One Little Cog ranges far and wide - the latest post dealing with sociological considerations in subway car seating choices.
Melanie McBride and Ehren Cheung - keep overturning those rocks and kicking through those leaves - and then posting the results. I appreciate the little nuggets of info and personal viewpoint that you spread.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Guten Tag
I've had a lot on my plate recently, but I wanted to get something posted, even if it's quick and dirty. Through @SamLawrence's Twitter posts (http://twitter.com/SamLawrence), I found TagCrowd (http://tagcrowd.com/), a tool for building tag clouds. It's intriguing, so I thought I'd see what could be gleaned from my previous postings here. This is the result:
created at TagCrowd.com
I'm currently reading "Exodus to the Virtual World: How Online Fun Is Changing Reality" by Edward Castronova.
I'm only about halfway through and I know that I'll need some time to digest it, but I'll try to have some thoughts up by the end of the month. For now, let me say that it confirms my sense that virtual worlds will become a large part of the online environment. Castronova seems to think that VWs will have a much greater impact on our real world societal organization. As with the web in 1994, so with VWs now...
I've had a lot on my plate recently, but I wanted to get something posted, even if it's quick and dirty. Through @SamLawrence's Twitter posts (http://twitter.com/SamLawrence), I found TagCrowd (http://tagcrowd.com/), a tool for building tag clouds. It's intriguing, so I thought I'd see what could be gleaned from my previous postings here. This is the result:
access approaches blog classroom com comments consortium directly diversity either exploration faculty general houston http information interaction interest life linguistic metadiversity metanomics metaverses networking non-traditional participation professors programs projects reasons social socnet students support tech technologies term title tools toster traditional twitter used view web week work world www zebra
created at TagCrowd.com
I'm currently reading "Exodus to the Virtual World: How Online Fun Is Changing Reality" by Edward Castronova.
I'm only about halfway through and I know that I'll need some time to digest it, but I'll try to have some thoughts up by the end of the month. For now, let me say that it confirms my sense that virtual worlds will become a large part of the online environment. Castronova seems to think that VWs will have a much greater impact on our real world societal organization. As with the web in 1994, so with VWs now...
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Not all Social Networking works for everyone...
After attending the EduCause SWRC08 conference here in Houston last week (btw - great job, folks!), I've been pondering what, why and whether certain popular Web 2.0 and Social Networking technologies are needed, useful, or even appropriate for our campus. The essence of SocNet tech is that it helps the user to overcome either physical or temporal constraints that limit participation in traditional (time and place constrained) social networks.
On many university campuses, these physical or temporal constraints are felt most keenly by those who are part-time and/or older students. These groups usually have full-time jobs, families or other off-campus commitments which can interfere with classroom interaction and (perhaps even more importantly) interaction with professors and fellow students outside the classroom. For such non-traditional students, SocNet tech can make a decided difference in the overall quality of the educational experience and may even help to determine whether the student is successful in the course.
On commuter campuses or at schools which host a reasonable percentage of non-traditional students, the advantages of tools such as blogs, IM's, tweets, virtual worlds, podcasting, etc. are becoming more recognized and accepted. At my institution, however, we have very few non-traditional students, either at the undergraduate or graduate level. Classes tend to be relatively small and the interaction between students and professors, both inside the classroom and out, is quite high. Indeed, class participation is counted heavily in most professors' grading schemes. In an environment such as this, Social Networking technology is merely a solution looking for a problem. In fact, many faculty members view such technology as interfering with communication between faculty and students. In short, we don't need it. That doesn't rule out possible limited use for some or most of these applications, but there is certainly no need to mount a campus-wide effort to integrate these technologies into the everyday lives of either students or faculty.
The approach that I'll need to take in helping to advance SocNet on campus is to look for niches where such technology might be used to enhance and support normal classroom interaction. One way in which we've begun to use some of these techniques is in the use of audio & video pod- or web-casts to provide general IT information, such as e-mail configuration, network storage access and other services offered by IT.
For now, I see my role as that of a (cautious) evangelist, taking every opportunity to discuss these technological options and probing for the right niches where some of these technologies might be able to augment existing programs.
On many university campuses, these physical or temporal constraints are felt most keenly by those who are part-time and/or older students. These groups usually have full-time jobs, families or other off-campus commitments which can interfere with classroom interaction and (perhaps even more importantly) interaction with professors and fellow students outside the classroom. For such non-traditional students, SocNet tech can make a decided difference in the overall quality of the educational experience and may even help to determine whether the student is successful in the course.
On commuter campuses or at schools which host a reasonable percentage of non-traditional students, the advantages of tools such as blogs, IM's, tweets, virtual worlds, podcasting, etc. are becoming more recognized and accepted. At my institution, however, we have very few non-traditional students, either at the undergraduate or graduate level. Classes tend to be relatively small and the interaction between students and professors, both inside the classroom and out, is quite high. Indeed, class participation is counted heavily in most professors' grading schemes. In an environment such as this, Social Networking technology is merely a solution looking for a problem. In fact, many faculty members view such technology as interfering with communication between faculty and students. In short, we don't need it. That doesn't rule out possible limited use for some or most of these applications, but there is certainly no need to mount a campus-wide effort to integrate these technologies into the everyday lives of either students or faculty.
The approach that I'll need to take in helping to advance SocNet on campus is to look for niches where such technology might be used to enhance and support normal classroom interaction. One way in which we've begun to use some of these techniques is in the use of audio & video pod- or web-casts to provide general IT information, such as e-mail configuration, network storage access and other services offered by IT.
For now, I see my role as that of a (cautious) evangelist, taking every opportunity to discuss these technological options and probing for the right niches where some of these technologies might be able to augment existing programs.
Friday, February 15, 2008
It's time!
I've decided that it's time I started blogging a bit from a quasi-professional viewpoint. By that I mean that I'll be dealing with things I deal with in my professional life in academic IT support, but there may be some non-professional topics thrown in from time to time. I'll address the topic of my choice of "Metadiversity" as my blog title later in this post.
Let's get a bit of biographical info in place:
I've been involved in academic computing support, both as a vendor and as a institutional employee for over 20 years. Before that, I worked in the "real world" in a project and customer management capacity for technical and industrial companies. In academia, I've had the good fortune to participate in projects that exploited new technologies like Gopher ('93) the Web ('94-present), and audio/video over the Internet ('94-present).
One of the primary reasons I left web development to return to desktop and server support was that I missed the social interaction. For the projects I was involved with early on, web development meant that I was trapped in front of the keyboard for 38 hours per week. (They let me out only to feed me and attend meetings.)
Now that "Social Networking" (Web 2.0, or whatever buzzword is in vogue this week) has come into more widespread use, I find that there is more opportunity to actually "reach out and touch someone" and be touched in return. It it this social aspect, inherent in much new technology, has a recaptured my interest. I find myself excited and enthusiastic about my work and interested in learning and applying as much as possible these days. I'm even dusting off my long-neglected programming skills (such as they were) to pursue a few small projects. I'll write about those as I can.
Among the "new" technologies that are capturing my interest, imagination and time are:
Second Life (username: toster Oh)
Twitter (username: toster) (http://www.twitter.com/toster)
I like meebo for the integration it provides (I can access twitter, jabber and webmail accounts all from one window), although I'm looking forward to better integration of meebo with the options available from the hosts directly.
There are several others that I am or have played with, but that haven't yet captured my interest or my time. I'll revisit them as I can & perhaps they'll be added to this list.
Of special interest in my investigation of these new technologies is the social aspect, both from a casual perspective and with a view toward the usefulness of these tools tools in augmenting (*not* replacing) traditional modalities of education.
The source of the blog title "Metadiversity" follows rather directly from this exploration process. I'll add pointers and links later, but key in this process have been sites and organizations such as Clever Zebra (http://cleverzebra.com/), the New Media Consortium (http://www.nmc.org/), Metanomics (http://www.metanomics.net/) and the work and comments of people like Nick Wilson, Cynthia Calongne, Hilary Mason, and Sarah Robbins. There have been (& will be) many more, so this list will expand & I hope become a good reference point for folks just stepping in to these wide and deep, but fast-moving technological waters. Metadiversity is intended to indicate the breadth and depth of work in, and exploration of, these social networking worlds - these diverse metaverses, if you will. The term itself isn't found at http://dictionary.reference.com/, but does surface primarily in one context, relating to biodiversity.
Another usage is found linguistically, on the technological front. In "Metadiversity: On the Unavailability of Alternatives to Information" (http://www.electronicbookreview.com/thread/technocapitalism/multilingual), David Golumbia says "The term has been introduced by information scientists and conservation biologists to indicate the need for metadata resources about biological diversity, no doubt a critical requirement. But the term metadiversity suggests something else - a diversity of meta-level approaches, or even more directly, a diversity of approaches, of schemes, of general structuring patterns." He expands this explanation in a linguistic sense, relating it to linguistics patterns on the Internet in particular. I won't continue with this here, but his insights are worth interesting.
My usage is related and yet distant enough from both of those (I hope!) to help me avoid criticism. I freely admit that I use it simply because I like the image it conjures for me of this diversity of metaverses.
If you care to drop in from time to time to see what I've been exploring, especially if you have advice or suggestions, I'll welcome your visits.
Let's get a bit of biographical info in place:
I've been involved in academic computing support, both as a vendor and as a institutional employee for over 20 years. Before that, I worked in the "real world" in a project and customer management capacity for technical and industrial companies. In academia, I've had the good fortune to participate in projects that exploited new technologies like Gopher ('93) the Web ('94-present), and audio/video over the Internet ('94-present).
One of the primary reasons I left web development to return to desktop and server support was that I missed the social interaction. For the projects I was involved with early on, web development meant that I was trapped in front of the keyboard for 38 hours per week. (They let me out only to feed me and attend meetings.)
Now that "Social Networking" (Web 2.0, or whatever buzzword is in vogue this week) has come into more widespread use, I find that there is more opportunity to actually "reach out and touch someone" and be touched in return. It it this social aspect, inherent in much new technology, has a recaptured my interest. I find myself excited and enthusiastic about my work and interested in learning and applying as much as possible these days. I'm even dusting off my long-neglected programming skills (such as they were) to pursue a few small projects. I'll write about those as I can.
Among the "new" technologies that are capturing my interest, imagination and time are:
Second Life (username: toster Oh)
Twitter (username: toster) (http://www.twitter.com/toster)
I like meebo for the integration it provides (I can access twitter, jabber and webmail accounts all from one window), although I'm looking forward to better integration of meebo with the options available from the hosts directly.
There are several others that I am or have played with, but that haven't yet captured my interest or my time. I'll revisit them as I can & perhaps they'll be added to this list.
Of special interest in my investigation of these new technologies is the social aspect, both from a casual perspective and with a view toward the usefulness of these tools tools in augmenting (*not* replacing) traditional modalities of education.
The source of the blog title "Metadiversity" follows rather directly from this exploration process. I'll add pointers and links later, but key in this process have been sites and organizations such as Clever Zebra (http://cleverzebra.com/), the New Media Consortium (http://www.nmc.org/), Metanomics (http://www.metanomics.net/) and the work and comments of people like Nick Wilson, Cynthia Calongne, Hilary Mason, and Sarah Robbins. There have been (& will be) many more, so this list will expand & I hope become a good reference point for folks just stepping in to these wide and deep, but fast-moving technological waters. Metadiversity is intended to indicate the breadth and depth of work in, and exploration of, these social networking worlds - these diverse metaverses, if you will. The term itself isn't found at http://dictionary.reference.com/, but does surface primarily in one context, relating to biodiversity.
Another usage is found linguistically, on the technological front. In "Metadiversity: On the Unavailability of Alternatives to Information" (http://www.electronicbookreview.com/thread/technocapitalism/multilingual), David Golumbia says "The term has been introduced by information scientists and conservation biologists to indicate the need for metadata resources about biological diversity, no doubt a critical requirement. But the term metadiversity suggests something else - a diversity of meta-level approaches, or even more directly, a diversity of approaches, of schemes, of general structuring patterns." He expands this explanation in a linguistic sense, relating it to linguistics patterns on the Internet in particular. I won't continue with this here, but his insights are worth interesting.
My usage is related and yet distant enough from both of those (I hope!) to help me avoid criticism. I freely admit that I use it simply because I like the image it conjures for me of this diversity of metaverses.
If you care to drop in from time to time to see what I've been exploring, especially if you have advice or suggestions, I'll welcome your visits.
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