Saturday, July 17, 2010

Summer Greedy Games

When our director said he wanted more traffic on VSTE Island I started considering what else we might do. I had four ideas I thought pretty cool almost immediately: Summer Concert Series, iPod Users Group, Open Mic Nights, and Tech Tools Talk. I am trying the iPod group first and decided to call it iApps and include Droid users. I think ten different avatars have come to two meetings. I'm not sure it will survive after the summer.

In the meantime it occurred to me that I had these two Greedy tables from the September Math Night meeting that weren't getting much use. I placed them on an empty corner of VSTE Island and every so often I call out to VSTE, ISTE, EC, and other groups to see if I can get up a game. Sometimes one or two take me up on it. I have no evidence yet that anyone plays if I'm not there, but on this particular afternoon there were eight of us off and on. I grabbed this photo of Serena, her friend Skipper (?), Neo, Xavier, PZ and myself. Amethyst and someone else were there at one point, too. It was good fellowship. Teachers who play together find more fun in working together.

Zen Bridge

I stumbled onto this beautiful place when alone in SL the other day. I was searching via the Showcase and tried several new places but when I landed here, though there was no one else there, I had to stay and explore. The sim seems to be Italian, inhabited by a couple of women. There were fields of tall grasses and wild flowers and aging buildings all over. The textures on the buildings were quite realistic. Interesting music plays simwide from a URL which is hidden. Violins swell and a flute plays a dramatic melody with a full orchestra like that of a movie soundtrack. In the background you hear the ambient sounds of fish jumping, a babbling brook, and soft rain.  Throughout you are surprised by unusual pose balls. Take a special friend if you decide to visit.