VWBPE 2013 held on four different platforms

Today new details have been released about the upcoming VWBPE 2013 (Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education) conference which is scheduled for 24th July through to the 27th July 2013. The VWBPE 2013 team are calling for SL Mentors, Helpers and Gurus to assist during this year’s big conference. They are needed to help students, educators and residents in Second Life make VWBPE 2013 the best conference ever.

VWBPE 2013 is organized by educators and volunteers of Second Life who do a excellent job each year. Presentations provide information anything from Second Life, OpenSim, Social Media and Virtual Worlds. The new details is that VWBPE 2013 will be held on 4 worlds which should be interesting. 

The 4 different platforms are:

• Second Life
• Cloud Party
• Jibe/Unity
• Jokaydia

VWBPE 2013 Schedule 

• Submissions open: 6th May 2013
• Submission deadline: 15th June 2013
• VWBPE opens: 24th July 2013
• VWBPE closes: 27th July 2013

To apply visit: http://www.vwbpe.org for applications and details.

Virtual Ability hosting Mental Health Symposium Event 2013

This weekend Virtual Ability in Second Life will be hosting a new event called Mental Health Symposium 2013 on Saturday 27th April 2013. The focus of this event is mental health care. The first keynote presentation starts at 7am SLT and the event lasts until 5pm SLT. See the full schedule below and everyone is welcome to these recommended keynote presentations.

Full Event Schedule:

Will you Treat ME?  Funding mental health care treatment – now and under the Affordable Health Care Act
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION
Presenter: Jayme Nelson, RN, MS (SL Avatar: Jayme Xaris)
Saturday April 27, 2013 7-8 am PDT

Sudden Violent Loss: Its Impact on Every Member of the Community
Presenter: Deborah Houston-Schrenzel (SL Avatar: Brede McDonnell)
Saturday April 27, 2013 10-11 am PDT

Poetry and Mental Health
Readers: Eliza Madrigal, Zen Arado, Szavannah Resident
Saturday April 27, 2013 11:30am-12:30pm PDT

Introducing the Whole Brain Health Fair to Second Life
Presenter: Lissena Resident
Saturday April 27, 2013 1-2pm PDT

Exploring New Ways of Evaluating Mental Capacity of Seniors
Presenter: Kara Bennett, Ph. D. (SL Avatar: Dancers Yao)
Saturday, April 27, 2013 2:30-3:30pm PDT

Herbal Medicine and Mental Health
Presenter: Richard Roth (SL Avatar: Farm Gartenberg)
Saturday, April 27, 2013 4-5pm PDT

Check out the Virtual Ability SL Blog for the latest news and events.

 

VWBPE 2013, update 1

This week there was new updated details about submissions for VWBPE 2013 which starts (24th-27th July 2013). Check out the new amazing VWBPE 2013 poster above for the 6th Annual Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference. Hopefully there will be an inworld presence, live streams and a larger audience this year. 

The theme for VWBPE 2013 is Beyond the Stage. Presentations will be hosted across the metaverse like in Second Life, OpenSim, Unity/Jibe, and Cloud Party which will be a historical first for the resident run VWBPE 2013 event.

• Submissions open: 6th May 2013
• Submissions deadline: 15th June 2013
• VWBPE 2013 opens: 24th July 2013
• VWBPE 2013 last day: 27th July 2013

Futher details about VWBPE 2013 will be released in the coming months and already there seems to be alot of interest for this conference.

Will you be attending VWBPE 2013 this year ? 

Pixie Viewer user interface updated to version 2.0.0

On 19th March 2013 I signed up to the Pixie Viewer which is a web browser-based viewer for virtual 3D environments. Since then the Pixie Viewer user interface has been updated with new colourful buttons and with new features coming soon. On the login page it says A 2.00 which version 2 of the viewer.

Good news for OpenSim support in the Pixie Viewer via Pixie Viewer Blog latset blog post by Sunny (admin) about the new features in version 2.

In parallel the Opensim Support makes good progress, but theres still a lot of work to do.

Snapshot of the old Pixie Viewer user interface on 19th March 2013.

• Play/Mute/Pause buttons with volume slider
• Current time 
• Stats button which brings up the Scene Rendering Info
• Build button which brings up basic shapes window
• Chat which brings up Public Chat
• Report Bug sends to bug report webpage
• Logout button ends the session

The Welcome Area

Snapshot of the new Pixie Viewer user interface on 3rd April 2013. See top 3 places to visit on the Pixie Viewer below!

• Audio / Video Conference (Blue) – Start webcam & microphone  - NEW
• Home (Grey)  - Teleports you to the Welcome region 
• Your Profile & Settings (Green) –  Userprofiles are coming soon! – NEW
• Chat (Blue) – Public Chat
• Private Message (Red) - Private Messages are coming soon! - NEW
• Find Places (Pink) – Top 3 places to visit 1. Welcome, 2. Mirror Island and 3. Sandbox - NEW
• Media Tools (Grey) - Media Tools are coming soon! - NEW
• Build (Yellow) – Build Tools

The Welcome Area

Mirror Island - This place has a MIRROR enabled

Sandbox - Public Sandbox. Build and try out everything here.

What do you think of this new user interface look for the Pixie Viewer ? Also please share your experiences on the Pixie Viewer! 

SL Buddy Walk 2013 Press Release

This week via the RHN Q and A Group a new press release was sent out about SL Buddy Walk presentation happening on Wednesday 13th March 2013 starting at 6pm SLT. More events are taking place also…see below!

• A new expo will be happening in Second Life at Virtual Ability Island between 17th-30th March to raise awareness of National Down Syndrome.
• On 21st March 2013 there will be a live music festival at Virtual Ability Island.

SL Buddy Walk 2013 

PRESENTER: JL Zinner
WEDNESDAY March 13, 6pm SLT
The Sojourner Auditorium, Virtual Ability Island
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Ability/54/170/23

The Buddy Walk® was established in 1995 by the National Down Syndrome Society to celebrate Down Syndrome Awareness and to promote acceptance and inclusion of people with Down syndrome. Last year there were 295 RL Buddy Walks. There’s also an SL Buddy Walk!

There is an Expo, March 17-30, to raise awareness. And on World Down Syndrome Day, March 21, a live music festival. This presentation will give additional information about this year’s event.

PRESENTER BIO:
JL Zinner has been involved in the SL Buddy Walk since it started in 2008. She is also involved in the real life Chicagoland Buddy Walk for the past 10 years and serves on the Buddy Walk advisory board. Her main inspiration comes from her son who is 11 and has Down syndrome.

Presented in text and voice simultaneously.

These events are open to all to attend at Virtual Ability Island in Second Life.

SXSW In InWorldz Weekend 2013

Yesterday on Friday 8th March 2013 the first ever South By Southwest Conference started. The 49 sims expo opened up to the public on the grid of InWorldz. The conference goes on from Friday 8th March to Sunday 10th March 2013 while the real SXSW is taking place in Texas. Will you be attending SXSW In InWorldz ?

Topics range from art, music, education, nature, technology, physics and much more.

• Sim A – Education
• Sim B – Arts & Literature
• Sim C – Entertainment
• Sim D – Technology
• Sim E – Physics
• Sim F – Fantasy & Roleplay
• Sim G – Transportation
• Sim H – The Harbor- Boating & Nature

Check out this full map of the 49 sims for InWorldz SXSW 2013

Event schedule for Saturday 9th March 2013

• 8:00am – 10:00am    DJ Cataplexia Numbers – Belly Dancing
• 10:00am – 12:00pm   DJ – Justin Meyer -
• 12:00pm – 2:00pm    DJ Kally Skytower – Jazz
• 2:00pm – 3:00pm      Subtlety Dalgish Live Blues
• 3:00pm – 4:00pm      Snoots Dwagon – Live Performance
• 4:00pm – 6:00pm     DJ Strummer Skytower – Rock
• 6:00pm – 8:00pm     DJ Kally – Blues
• 8:00pm – 10:00pm   DJ Clint Westwood – country
• Sun Mar 10       SXSW
• 8 a.m. – 10 a.m. — open
• 10:00am – 12:00pm     DJ – Justin Meyer
• 12:00pm – 2:00pm    DJ G-WINZ
• 2 p.m. -3 p.m.  – open
• 3:00pm – 4:00pm    Reggie Sunset
• 4:00pm – 6:00pm    DJ Strummer Skytower -Rock
• 6:00pm – 8:00pm    DJ Kally – Blues
• 8-10 p.m. — open

Event schedule for Sunday 10th March 2013

• 10:00am – 12:00pm     DJ – Justin Meyer
• 12:00pm – 2:00pm    DJ G-WINZ  – Electroswing
• 2 p.m. -3 p.m.  — open
• 3:00pm – 4:00pm    Reggie Sunset  – Live Guitar & Song
• 4:00pm – 6:00pm    DJ Strummer Skytower -Rock
• 6:00pm – 8:00pm    DJ Kally – Blues- Closing

For the latest SXSW 2013 InWorldz discussions visit the InWorldz Forums.

VWBPE 2013 in Second Life starts on 24th-27th July 2013

There are new details about this year’s VWBPE (Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference) 2013 in Second Life. The conference will be starting on Wednesday 24th July until Saturday 27th July 2013. The theme for VWBPE 2013 is Beyond the Stage which sounds interesting and I’m much looking forward to attending the conference inworld again. This year will mark it’s 6th annual conference in Second Life. Woooot!

Check out the new VWBPE 2013 official website for more information and useful links.

 

For the latest news updates on VWBPE 2013 join the VWBPE group in Second Life which is free to join. There’s more than 640 members in the VWBPE group and hopefully there will be many more joining in the coming months.

Mark this on your calendars!

(Dis)Ability in Second Life: Ongoing research

Attend this event coming up called (Dis)Ability in Second Life: Ongoing research on Wednesday 30th January starting at 11am SLT over at The Sojourner Auditorium on Virtual Ability Island. There is a repeat of this event on Saturday 2nd February 2013 starting at 8am SLT. Find out about research findings about people with disabilities and SL identity. This event is open to all and Ambrosia108 Azalee will be hosting the event.

The Sojourner Auditorium

Event Press Release 

(Dis)Ability in Second Life: Ongoing research.
PRESENTER: Ambrosia108 Azalee
WEDNESDAY January 30, 11am SLT
or
SATURDAY February 2, 8am SLT
The Sojourner Auditorium

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Ability/53/172/23

Find out about an ongoing qualitative study on (dis)ability and Second Life… and why it’s important.

PRESENTER BIO:
Ambrosia108 Azalee is an MA student in Educational Technology at Concordia University, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Her primary academic interests relate to (dis)Ability, human experiences in virtual environments, virtual identities and communities, and implications of technology and its design.

Presentation in text and voice simultaneously.

Mark this event on your calendars!

VWBPE will be happening in July 2013

It’s been announced in the NPC meeting this week that VWBPE will be hosted this year in July 2013. This year will mark it’s 6th annual conference in Second Life and it’s set to be bigger than in previous years. More details will be announced very soon relating to VWBPE 2013.

Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education is a global grass-roots community event focusing on education in immersive 3D environments. This open “indie”conference is organized by educators to provide an opportunity to showcase the learning that takes place in this community of practice. All  educators are encouraged to present, attend and take part in this discussion of collaborative deeper learning and co-presence  in virtual worlds and games.

Last year the theme was Be Epic and there were five regions to visit to listen to many keynote presentations from the Second Life community. Hundreds of avatars attended VWBPE 2012 and hopefully there will be more during the VWBPE 2013 this summer.

Second Life Free Starter Vehicle Pack on Amazon

Linden Lab have announced today that Second Life is now on Amazon, With a Special Promotion This Weekend! which rather unique.   The special promotion for this weekend only is a FREE Starter Vehicle Pack per avatar it seems which is usually $9.95.  It’s a great little package for new residents. The 1000 Linden Dollars will be a great help to go shopping and a hoverboard to have fun around the grid.

Features…

• 1000 Linden Dollars
• Exclusive Hoverboard

Weekend Deal: Free “Second Life” Starter Pack ($9.95 Value) – LIMIT ONE PER CUSTOMER
From now until January 6, 2013, get a Vehicle Starter Pack for “Second Life” absolutely free. Normally $9.95, this pack includes 1,000 Linden Dollars (virtual currency) and a designer hoverboard. Use your virtual currency to customize your avatar with high-quality clothing or characters, weapons or other enhancements. Show off your moves with a unique hoverboard that lets you skim across land, water or sky. LIMIT ONE PER CUSTOMER. Learn more.

What are your views on this free weekend deal? Please post in comments. Thank you!

Happy New Year 2013 to all my SL friends

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year 2013 in Second Life and in Real Life. I’m now excited to blog about 2013 SL happenings good or bad.

Welcome to 2013!

• Lets hope this year will bring happiness and excitement to everyone
• *lets celebrate 2013!!!*

My SL 2013 adventures begins…

SLCC 2013 under a new name includes OpenSim and other platforms

SL News Alert

Today Fleep Tuque posted a update today on her SL Google+ profile page relating to some new hints about future SL conventions. I’m happy to hear that OpenSim and other platforms will be included which should be very interesting indeed. In previous years at SLCC OpenSim and other platforms didn’t really get a mention and now they will in 2013+. This year SLCC 2012 was axed due to changes in the terms of the contract offered by Linden Lab this year.

New mention about future conventions

AvaCon is planning to expand the convention to include Opensim and other platforms in the coming years under a new name and we have volunteer staff positions open if you’re interested, see AvaCon, Inc. for more info.

This is good news that AvaCon is planning for future conventions and not axing them altogether. However it’s going to be apparently be under a new name instead of SLCC I think. Volunteer staff positions are OPEN which applications be found on the official AvaCon website.

Details about when, where, who and a new name have is yet to be announced.