I miss you all

I am SO busy!
Excited. Challenged. LEARNING!
Oh I LOVE my job!!!!!

I have some photos
of great SL music times
but no time to write.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Fine, it was only one day. But it was vacation. I have two laptops going – my work one and my gaming computer. I was on vacation. So I was inworld on the gaming computer (thank you again my dearest husband for my wonderful wonderful setup – I’m hoping this year’s birthday is MUCH better than last year).

I also had my work laptop up and running. I had my email and my calendar set to vacation. We have an internal IM system. I had my status set to away. I thought that should cover me. Because, you see, I was actually sneaking INTO work. You read that correctly – INTO work. Because I LOVE what I do – part of it, anyway. The other part I enjoy but it requires that I take vacation time. There was a meeting that I, omg, WANTED to attend. I had VOLUNTEERED (sheesh – not even a bus this time to run me over) to think up some ideas for an action plan. So I was on that computer also. And someone from the enjoyable part of work IM’d me, starting in on his issues. I watched the text grow and thought – I need to nip this in the bud. Now. /me blushes because I suspect my answer could be construed as “snarky”. Maybe even “rude”. I basically stated that I was on vacation. *grin* I suggested he take his issues elsewhere or he could wait for my return. I then changed my away status to the slightly stronger “Away on Vacation”. Since I was actually communicating with people about work through the work IM, I couldn’t really turn it off. See – life is so COMPLICATED when you lie about being at work. No – NOT at work. At work?

But most of the day I wasn’t working. I was playing. All day into the wee hours of the morning. Oh yeah. That may have been the most marathon session I have ever spent. /me smiles happily in recollection. Most of the day I spent with Oura, but lots of other friends dropped by or IM’d. We spent hours in the pool, without undue harm. Oura entertained us by dancing in her chains. What guy in the other tube? Later in the day Jonah dropped by to join us. The 3 of us splashed and played some more. Oura is right – I need many more animations for the pool, now that it is summer. Especially when people go AFK in my deck chairs so that they can work.

I spent time working on my AO for opensim. Although some people appreciated the AO I was using, I suspected that for an unanimated world, it might be a bit too strong. All of the poses were really bland by SL standards. But surrounded by newbies in default everything, the gestures seem more overstated. So what do you think of this new one I was trying? *grin* No? Or is it just the attire?

I love my SL house and friends. Last Friday’s vacation day was at the RL shore and was heaven on earth. This Friday vacation was at my SL pool and was wonderful. You can have your cake and eat it too.

New Creations

I’m a tad frustrated. Work is going great. We had a concept. We made a demo of that concept so that we could show it to other people so that they could say “Hey! There’s an idea here!” We have found people who do indeed think we have an idea and maybe even more than an idea. We may actually have something that could become something REAL. *grin* You need to know something about me – well, if I were a REAL person, and not a construct of an imagination (please see the disclaimer in my profile. LOL). I have been in a group that brings products to market. I LIKE selling real products to real people for real money. *grin* So it’s incredibly exciting to me to think that yes, we may indeed have something here. BUT. I can’t tell you about any of that. Probably I shouldn’t even admit that we have an idea. That is why I am wearing aluminum foil on my head – so that you can’t beam your mind-ray machine at me and see what it is. So I can’t tell you about what *I* am doing. What I am creating. Go back and look at pictures of my office. That’s all I can share.

What I CAN do, however, is share what my friends are doing and creating. I’ve told you all about Honour’s Drama Dolls. Have you gotten YOURS yet? I’m sure that sometime in SL you encountered DRAMA!

Bailey Longcloth is also creating. She has a business, Longcloth Ltd. for furniture, animations and homes. If I say Tony, Jeannie and Howard – do you know who I mean???? Either you are showing your age or your predilection for old TV. *Grin* Whereas Jeannie’s home was made from a Jim Beam liquor decanter which was simply painted with gold leaf, YOU can do better than that! Bailey has made a genie bottle that is much more elaborate and detailed. It is beautiful and fun. She sent me a photo while she was building it. I immediately started smiling from the sheer fun of it all. She is selling it through Xstreet. I have already curled up in MY bottle. It’s cozy and snug and I feel like a little-girl’s fantasy come true. Okay – I’m wearing my silks from Beautiful Sin, so maybe I look a little like a big boy’s fantasy. But it’s MY bottle and I’m not inviting anyone to join me. Even though it has a couple pose. I’m not telling who is in the picture, either. If you REALLY want to know, contact me discreetly. LOL.

Sigh. Maybe soon I can tell you what *I* am doing…..

My Friends, We’ve Got TROUBLE

Right here in River City!!! With a Capital “T”! That rhymes with “P”! And that stands for POOL!!!!

You may have noticed that I love my life in SL. I have a great time and I am always trying to encourage other friends to come live here too. *grin* Or at least visit. (Gwyneth LLewelyn, one of the most articulate and learned bloggers out there, has the most provocative post on this subject. I am still pondering what she wrote and while I’m not sure I’m exactly comfortable with this realization, I think she has me ‘pegged’.) I have been telling my coworker J for MONTHS that he needs to come inworld. I have answered him on blogs, IM’d him, chatted on the phone, always to the same point: he can have team meetings, work, be productive and bond with other coworkers in a virtual setting.

Hallelujah! J came back from a corporate indoctrination session. *grin* Hey, I like those courses too, but let’s be honest. J and 21 others were together for a week. He told me they bonded in “our” old-fashioned way (J and I used to meet when we all came together for the yearly corporate extravaganza.) I laughed and said “Beer?” J replied “And POOL!!! Never forget the POOL!!” I laughed. I will never forget Pool night at MacClaren’s. McClanahan’s? McGovern’s? Okay. I can’t remember the place, but I remember the fun. And the team building. And oh yes, the photos. I paid a LOT for those photos. *grin*

J has come around to my way of thinking. He wants to bring his classmates together monthly so they can continue to work together and build on what they accomplished this past week. See – indoctrination DOES work. So J wants my help. Time to put your money where your mouth is, Ahuva.

I told J who to contact officially in the company, to get into the corporate vw systems. But. J kept saying “Pool. I want to play pool. We all played pool. We could build on that.” /me rolls eyes and sighs dramatically. I checked but I knew it before I checked – even our wonderful corporate game master has NOT created a pool table. No pool yet in the corporate world. Ah, Oura, what would I do without you??? I sent an agitated IM to Oura saying “Find me a sex-free, working pool table!!!” Being Oura, of course she found one. In less than 30 minutes. Perfect. FW Supplies at Celestial Game Tower. Calli tp’d in to give her opinion. Turns out she has used this table – another friend has it. She said it really does work. The sex animations are an additional purchase if you are interested. I did buy the cue stick rack. I am still considering the overhead lights (“If you got the optional pool lamp, rezzing it will make it automatically jump in place over the pool table. The lamp is MOD allowed, in order to extend its support up to your ceiling.”).

The other night Oura, Jonah, DZ and I unpacked my pool table and gave it a try. First, I had to change the felt to green. I don’t play pool in RL (nor in SL) but I DO know that the table has to be green. Not blue. There are 3 sets of instructions: for the owner, the player, and basic 8-Ball rules. You wear a HUD to play. DZ and Oura racked up first, Jonah and I cheered them on. Although I have the table at home right now (*giggle* it’s on the same level as my pool) I intend to move it to my SL office. I’ll take out the sofa and chairs, add the pool table and cue rack. I’ll leave the big conference table for the pizza and beer.

There were realistic sound effects, you can add power and spin to your shots. I have been assured that yes, this really IS like playing pool. *grin* I am going shopping for the beer and pizza NOW. I hope J and his gang remember to clean up after themselves. *grin*

So…. taken from my notecards, and yes, this is probably copyrighted, etc.:

• Truly realistic gameplay using extensive random physics, including possible strike miss
• Realistic custom pool table sounds and balls behavior, nice balls triangle animation and particle effects
• Balls roll on table and falls down in pockets, then slowly slide down the ramp on each side
• Really intuitive and user-friendly HUD-driven game, NO painful keyboard control NOR required MouseLook mode
• Includes automatic player’s camera control for table top view or cue view
• Balls tracking security system with automatic kill upon table eject, to avoid buggy balls remaining around on your parcel
• Owner can set table for pay-required games and choose felt’s color at will
• 8 Balls pool game rules strictly respected and handled by script

Player notes:
Player just needs to click on pool table frame to receive its Pool HUD, play instructions and pool rules. As soon as worn, the HUD searches for pool table around in a 20m range. If found, the player can then “Join Table”. Once table is joined by one or two players, the game can start by clicking on “Start Game” button. This brings the balls on table, then the triangle moves up and first player can strike (first player is always the one having started game).

8 Ball rules:
1. The game is played with one cue ball and 15 numbered object balls.
2. The balls are racked in a triangle at the foot of the table with the 8-ball in the center of the triangle, the first ball of the rack on the footspot, a stripe ball in one corner of the rack and a solid ball in the other corner, as the above illustration shows.
3. The object of the game is to make one group of numbered object balls, either stripes or solids, and then LEGALLY POCKET THE 8-BALL which then wins the game.

Work Hard, Play High

I feel as if I am working all the time. That somehow my work day has blended seamlessly into the rest of my life. Maybe that’s what happens when you work in virtual worlds. Certainly the two people I know who appear to log even more work hours than I do both work in virtual worlds. Shenlei and I used to have time to take 15 minutes and ride horses. Go shopping for gardens. Stake out lucky stumps. But lately….wow…. we are lucky if we have time to IM for any extended time. Pretty much the only way I get to see Shen is if I go and attend her work events. Monday night I and several friends attended her presentation on her new Avatar Apparel Design Program. I wish I had the time and the required skill-set to take this course. Maybe the next time it is offered my Gimp skills will be at a sufficient level. Of course, that still means I need to find time.

This Thursday there is a fashion show for the business professional within SL. There are a lot of people doing RL business within SL. Sometimes even in SL there is a need to respect RL social conventions, such as clothing and appearance. As more and more corporations are coming into SL to do business, the need for business wear grows. Let me quote from the publicity:
Bull & Bear Careerwear is a new line of sophisticated attire designed exclusively with the business professional in mind. B&B was conceived and launched by Wollemia Sands, an up-and-coming talented designer. “The Art of the Deal” fashion show will feature 20 B&B creations — 10 women’s outfits; 10 men’s outfits — that are finely-tailored and appeal to the discerning professional. “The Art of the Deal” is a collaborative undertaking between Wollemia Sands of Bull & Bear; Shenlei Winkler, CEO of the Fashion Research Institute, Inc.; Suzy Yue of Running Lady Productions (RLP); and, is hosted by Sigma-Aldrich.

This Saturday – treat yourself to some jewelry. (See – that Shenlei. She never stops working!!!!) “Twelve lovely ladies bedecked with opulent jewels in a darkly seductive set showcase the exceptional work of Fashion Research Institiute Marketplace designers Yoona Mayo (cocoon), Tiffy Vella (Eclectica), and Rosie Barthelmess (Sable Rose). Please join us for this unique fashion-meets-art installation of fashion displayed artistically.” I have to tell you – I saw this show being setup. My, my, my – those poses are HOT!!!! I played with each poseball and I STILL can’t decide which one I love the most. The jewelry is even BETTER than the poses. So get yourself there and treat yourself royally.

So if you work hard, you have to play hard. I decided that I needed to remind Shen of that fact. This weekend I dropped a present on her – a stress-breaker toy. I included a note that said the two of us NEEDED a break. *grin* After her presentation Monday, she rezzed it: a trampoline. LOL. We got on that silly trampoline and bounced up into the sky, over and over. Okay, I also went splat on the ground a few times as well but hey, that’s the beauty of SL – splat doesn’t really mean SPLAT! After bouncing for awhile, we relaxed on the lovely green professional looking couches. Don’t we look like we’ve been sent to the principal’s office for misbehaving??? Anyway, we did manage to sneak in some fun, relax and laugh. Just what we needed. Just what we all need. So that’s my advice to you for today. Find a friend and share a moment to laugh. Yeah, there’s a lot of real bad news, stress, less-than-pleasant stuff around. I’m not denying it. Or even ignoring it. Life happens. But take a moment to catch some sunshine – find a friend and share a laugh.

Wishing you all a good day!

Business Panel

It’s no secret that I am fascinated by the topic of RL business in SL. My current goal is to create a RL job that pays me to login to SL and spend the day there working and developing. Whenever I hear about RL business events in SL, therefore, I make every effort to participate.

Earlier this week I attend the Nokia Connecting Worlds event in SL. I’d never heard of the Nokia Connecting Worlds seminars. For that matter, I didn’t know that Nokia had such a strong vibrant presence in SL. I learned about Nokia in SL from attending the Beyond Blogging Conference last month. Hydra Shaftoe participated in several of the sessions. I was impressed by how articulately he expressed his views and by all the background knowledge/information he provided. So when a message flashed across one of my groups that Nokia was holding its May edition of Nokia Connecting Worlds, hosted and moderated by Hydra, I knew I had to attend.

Nokia posts their events to the SL Community Events calendar. The following is from their May post:
Nokia corporation is proud to present its May edition of Nokia Connecting Worlds. This month we will be inviting several large companies that have had success with implementing virtual worlds in their business practices, and exploring how those practices can benefit other corporations with thoughts of moving in themselves. Since the two are naturally linked, we will also be exploring behind-firewall solutions and their viability for corporate virtual world usage.

The panelists were all very well informed and extremely articulate (ALWAYS a plus). I learned quite a bit. I’m certainly looking forward to the June edition.

( *grin* bonus points if you can find me in the crowd!!! )

Thinking Like a Builder

Honour is beginning to change the way I think. Yesterday I was told that my make-shift office was “too big”. Yeah, I felt a little squashed. I was quite proud that I whipped it together so quickly out of mostly nothing. I was hoping for an “atta girl” before the “But….”. Life is what life is, deal with it, Ahuva. I mentioned this to Honour. She said “So build a wall.” LOL. Well, right. It’s easy to change reality in SL.

First I moved all the office furniture into a smaller vacant shop. It was still too big. So I began to build walls. I put a wall up to block out the mall and I created an inner wall to reduce the width of the room. I can always move those mall walls in closer as well to shrink the length of the room. The problem with the walls is the color. For some reason I can’t edit the existing walls and see their textures. I SHOULD, since I own this sim. I will contact my favorite general contractor today, however, and ask for his assistance in getting the colors right.

I looked at the bare walls. I figured an office needed art. I was sooooo tired last night (I am working 24/7 – yes – I am DREAMING about this project. I mean it – working 24/7). All I could think of for art was to use existing textures in OpenSim. I knew that there were some trees. I made picture frames, and then put up 2 prims with alpha textures. Trees and grass!!! Trees and a wall!!! C’mon – don’t they look like modern office art??? The wall still looked bare so I made a bookcase. It was empty, but I thought it showed intent. My last thought for the evening was to get some greenery into the office (hey – I started this virtual life as a gardener, remember????). So I made a cylinder, textured it with marble and plopped in a handy-dandy bush from outside the mall. And I went to sleep, thinking about how I could put something in the bookcase.

I woke up this morning and took pictures of my husband’s book shelf. See!! All of you who always ask what he thinks of my living in SL – he is VERY supportive of my work. I figured I could turn those pictures into a texture, shove them on a prim and shove that prim in the bookcase. I used repeats and offsets to differentiate the 2 shelves a little bit. They are still too similar, but not bad for 5:30 am. Presto! Books!

Driving in to work I knew that I needed art on the other wall as well. I started thinking about what textures I had that were my own. It dawned on me that a texture is merely a picture. I have all my vacation photos for the last several years on my computer. *grin* Niagara Falls? The Grand Canyon? Watkins Glen Gorge won out this morning. Click, click, click – picture frames and pictures. I put another planter and flower in the other corner of the room.

So what do you think??? I need to fix the wall colors, maybe move the walls in a bit more. I probably need more art on the wall. Maybe a lamp or a vase or something. But I MADE these things!!!! I’m sitting here thinking about ways to make a vase, ways to make some flowers (alpha textures), ways to build some coffee mugs. I don’t think I’m quite ready to make a phone, but who knows – maybe I’ll be inspired this weekend.

Ahuva, beginning builder. Has a nice sound, doesn’t it? *grin*

Snapshots of the Past Week

Some weeks I have nothing much new or interesting to report about my life. Other weeks – I can’t catch my breath. This past week was breathless. Since I’ve become a bit sporadic about posting, I figured I’d get these snippets up while they were still fresh in my mind, giving me joy. Shengri La turned 3 years old recently so a great deal of my week was involved with that. That will all figure in the next post. But there were a few other things happening as well.

First: I know this is a little late – but do catch the end of the Beyond Blogging Conference today:

April 8th
08:00 PDT 11:00 EST Homesteading in the IBM Grid
09:00 PDT 12:00 EST Lessons Learned from IBM’s Academy of Technology Virtual Conferences (This should be VERY informative and interesting! But I bet he doesn’t mention the landscaping… *grin* )

I have spent most of my work week sitting on the ground, contemplating my rezzer. I was quite alarmed at how much I’d forgotten from my scripting lessons with Hell. So I probably spent several hours just kicking my brain back into scripting mode. But by the end of the week, my rezzer worked, my graphs appeared, things rezzed in the right location and the right color. And my brain seems to be back in the proper mode for thinking and developing. If only I had more time……

One of the best things that happened this week was a reunion. I didn’t post on it here, but Dale posted on his blog. He had to leave his shack at Pier. That was my first home. Literally. When Dale rescued me from Orientation Island, SL set Pier to my home location. And it stayed my home until I finally moved here to McIntyre. If you go back to my posts on my first hours in SL, I’m sure that I mentioned the wonderful black kitty that lived on Dale’s couch at Pier. I LOVE Kitty. Kitty was my best friend on many an occasion. I’d go hang out with Kitty, model my new outfits for him, feed him tuna snacks (oh does Kitty have fish breath sometimes!!!). I’d cuddle Kitty and we’d confide in each other. And then… Pier was no more. Kitty was locked away in inventory. A little piece of my heart was broken when Dale and Kitty left Pier. But we were reunited this week. After a party Dale and I went back to visit Kitty, and see his new home. Oh joy!!! We sat forever, talking and relaxing and loving Kitty. It was heaven. It’s not Pier, but it was still Home. Ah Kitty – *hugs* I love you. /me fills back with tuna treats and marks calendar for next visit.

And there is the great Mainland is Ugly propaganda. Well, I live on the mainland. Yeah, my next-door neighbors put up a landing strip. You know what – it has never bothered me. THEY have never bothered me. Almost nothing that happens around my house has bothered me. Until this week. Finally a neighbor did something that I did indeed find not to my taste. I like to sit by my pool, at my table with my laptop, drinking coffee while I work or blog (as I am doing now). The other morning I sat down, looked up across the way, and there was a large revolving religious symbol. Very large. Very obvious. As close to my property line as they could put it without going over the line. It actually was brushing against some of my tree branches. So I stared at that a bit. Decided that I really did NOT want to see it anymore. They were entitled to their opinion, but having seen it, I didn’t need a constant reminder. So I put up a thicket hedge. Shenlei had given me this particular hedge when I moved in – she used it to block an ad farm near the back of my property. So I tossed the tree that was there, put up the thicket and there you go. Problem solved. I guess us Mainlanders are pretty flexible folks.

I spent so much of the week not being “me” (I’ll explain that more in another post). It’s not so bad when I’m staring at my rezzer. I mean – I am okay with how I look there. No AO, which annoys me. No boots, which also annoys me. But the hair and clothing aren’t too bad. And I’m working, so mostly I don’t even notice. But by late Saturday evening, I needed a bit of comfort. Von Johin was playing the blues. I tp’d home, put on my boots, jeans, and hair, and headed over. I spent a wonderful hour chatting, dancing and admiring an extremely neat cat avatar. I think that maybe I will buy an av like that and spend a week as a cat. I need a break.

Wow. I didn’t think I had anything to say, but I went on and on, didn’t I? That’s because this will have to hold you through the week. It’s Pesach, and RL takes precedence this week.

Beyond Blogging Conference

The Beyond Blogging conference starts tomorrow: Tuesday, April 7 at 9am SLT. You really do not want to miss this. It should be very interesting and fun. Lots of good speakers lined up. I will be there for sure. There are some changes to the schedule and presenters since I posted this the other day. (Just look for IBM 9 on the map – you’ll find us there.)

Beyond Blogging: Schedule
Here is the lineup of events for the Beyond Blogging conference. All events will start at the Lotusphere Parcel on IBM 9.
April 7th
09:00 PDT 12:00 EST Virtual Worlds Culture
10:00 PDT 13:00 EST Teaming in World of Warcraft
11:00 PDT 14:00 EST Stone Soup Stories
12:00 PDT 15:00 EST Roundtable: Achieving a Work/Life/Virtual Life balance
13:00 PDT 16:00 EST Roundtable: What’s in a Name?
14:00 PDT 17:00 EST Roundtable: Appearance Matters!
15:00 PDT 18:00 EST The Wonderful World of Colin Fizgig
16:00 PDT 19:00 EST Leaving a Virtual Legacy
17:00 PDT 20:00 EST Field Trip: Social Aspects of Virtual Worlds
April 8th
02:00 PDT 05:00 EST 100 students interviews in a SL theater
05:00 PDT 08:00 EST Language Learning in Second Life
08:00 PDT 11:00 EST Homesteading in the IBM Grid
09:00 PDT 12:00 EST Lessons Learned from IBM’s Academy of Technology Virtual Conferences

Opening General Session – Virtual Worlds Culture
7th April, 09:00 PDT / 12:00 EST

Virtual Worlds are more than just another medium for the exchange of information. Most of the venues we have for social interaction on the internet today, web pages, blogs, instant messaging, all revolve around the written word. Virtual worlds such as Second Life allow for user contribute content that spurs on social interaction in ways that are quite different from previous text driven interfaces.

Jessica Qin will open the conference with a discussion of this culture arising from Virtual Worlds.

Teaming in World of Warcraft
7th April, 10:00 PDT / 13:00 EST

Massively multiplayer online games, like any team environment, rely heavily on good communication and matched goals. Due to the lack of supervision by team leaders, organization and team identity are even more important. In teams who are geographically local, the team members can go to a dinner or some other event together. However, in a geographically dispersed team whose members are unlikely to ever meet face to face, these challenges have to be addressed differently.

Sasha Oliver speaks on the lessons she has learned to address virtual teaming through her experience leading a guild in World of Warcraft.

Entertaining Education

I’m not sure “education” is the correct word, but I like alliteration. My friend Jaymin is runinng a Beyond Blogging conference. “What’s that?” you ask. It’s a conference in a more-relaxed format. It is an opportunity for people to meet in SL and discuss what aspects of virtual worlds excite them, annoy them, help them, and have changed their lives. Or as Jaymin writes it:

The ‘Beyond Blogging’ Conference is about exploring the use of virtual worlds by IBM and IBMers alike in their social and working lives. Virtual worlds are used for the expression of ideas, new concepts, collaboration, communication and community building. We are looking for papers, posters or presentation sessions along the lines of the conference theme: how virtual worlds have affected IBM and IBMers.
Since the conference it taking place in public space, non-IBMers may participate if they wish. Those just wishing to attend may subscribe to the Developer Works Blog on “Return on Investment in Virtual Worlds” for updates. Those who wish to present a topic may do so. They just need an IBM Employee to “sponsor” them. You or your sponsor can contact the conference organizers for more details.
Beyond Blogging will take place on April 7-8, 2009, on the Lotusphere parcel in the IBM 9 region of Second Life.

Jaymin mentioned this conference to me a few weeks ago and then I saw that Tateru Nino was blogging on it as well. I’m providing a link to Jaymin’s website, but I have experienced some difficulties at times reaching it. So I will copy in much of the information here (*grin* the stuff that *I* find really really interesting).

Beyond Blogging: Schedule
Here is the lineup of events for the Beyond Blogging conference. All events will start at the Lotusphere Parcel on IBM 9.
April 7th
09:00a PDT 12:00 EST Opening General Session
10:00a PDT 13:00 EST Teaming in World of Warcraft
11:00a PDT 14:00 EST Homesteading in the IBM Grid
12:00noon PDT 15:00 EST Roundtable: Achieving a Work/Life/Virtual Life balance
13:00 PDT 16:00 EST Roundtable: What’s in a Name?
14:00 PDT 17:00 EST Roundtable: Appearance Matters!
15:00 PDT 18:00 EST The Wonderful World of Colin Fizgig
16:00 PDT 19:00 EST Leaving a Virtual Legacy
17:00 PDT 20:00 EST Field Trip: Social Aspects of Virtual Worlds
April 8th
02:00a PDT 05:00a EST 100 students interviews in a SL theater
05:00a PDT 08:00a EST Language Learning in Second Life
08:00a PDT 11:00a EST Stone Soup Stories
09:00a PDT 12:00noon EST Closing General Session

You KNOW that I am going to be therefor the Appearance Matters! session.  Actually, I plan to be there for most of the sessions.     Because these are topics that I find fascinating.  As you probably know, if you read this blog.  I will probably have quite a bit to say in the What’s in a Name? session as well.  *grin*  Ah yes, topics that are near and dear to me.

The Opening session should also be extremely interesting. This deals with IBM’s work with LL over the past year, using SL for conferences. LL has been blogging about this themselves, now we can hear about it from the IBM perspective. This session will be headed by Neil Katz:

In late 2008 IBM’s Academy of Technology held a conference on virtual worlds in a virtual world: a private instance of Second Life behind IBM’s firewall. As an experiment in virtual conferencing for researchers of the topic it was a success and might have been relegated as an indication of where the future could go. However, six weeks later, the crashing economy and emergency cost saving measures caused the travel budget for the annual general meeting of IBM’s Academy of Technology to be cut. Suddenly our virtual conference work was pulled from the research sidelines and given center focus as it became the only possibly way to hold the AGM within the economic constraints.

Neil Katz, an IBM Distinguished Engineer and chairman of the conference will speak on history, development, success, and ultimate lessons learned of the two conferences.

And don’t miss “Leaving a Virtual Legacy”!!!! That session will be led by our beloved Honour McMillan.

Nothing seems as ephemeral as the virtual world. What we perceive as land and buildings and accessories and appearances are just electrons, bits and bytes. Our concept of ownership is nebulous as they are stored on servers we have no control over, and do not represent something concrete we can hold in our hands. The general assumption is that our electronic creations are ‘writ on water’. And yet works of electronic media have been tenaciously persistent. What student of the late 80’s would have thought at the time their angst filled ramblings on usenet would be indexed and searchable 20 years later, prompting awkward questions from their children?
Perhaps we should take our creations more seriously. It may be that our exploratory fumblings of today, of all the efforts of our lives, are the most likely to end up ‘writ on marble’; recorded, indexed, and presented is some unguessable 3D wikipedia of 2030.

Finish up the first day with a social tour led by none other than Dale. *grin* Okay – if you know Dale (and if you read my blog you do), you know that this WILL be a fun. *grin* See you there!

Get there EARLY!!!!  IBM 9/Lotusphere has very good builds and games and is extremely interesting.  There is a climbing wall  – check it out!  To ascend the wall, you must answer the questions correctly!  *grin*   Look at me go!!!