Virtual Pioneers Walk Through History

VP had a fashion show last night in which I got to participate. Xavier did a wonderful job of taking our notes on our periods of history, outfits, and what we like to do in SL and created professional descriptions with humor.

I portrayed the Pilgrim women of Massachusetts, specifically Priscilla Mullins Alden, my ancestor. 


Participating in a fashion show in which I was not an organizer was fun. I got to take a lot of photos. http://www.flickr.com/photos/29329438@N06/4806795123/in/photostream About 30 minutes into the event my computer became unable to continue rezzing everything I wanted to photograph. Second Life is very demanding on a graphics card. I'm hoping the 4 gigs of RAM I have coming today will help but I'm not sure it will have any affect on graphics. 


Enjoy some of my favorite photos.

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.

September 2009

September 14th VSTE in SL group meeting was held on Monday, September 14, at 5:00pm SLT (8:00pm EDT). Mandie Mimulus shared with 15 participants the new VSTE Island exhibit of the first Africans to arrive in Jamestown in 1619. The event was tied to the essential knowledge that all Virginia students must understand about this period of history. Participants were directed to the Teacher Resource Center on VSTE Island, where educators can find additional resources, lesson plans and an example of a student-created project that focus on the arrival of the first Africans. 

September 21st Cyrus Hush took us on a tour of Ivy League college sims. We toured Harvard and Princeton. It's impressive to see what these institutions do with the SL platform. There were replicas of buildings on campus, mock courtrooms, and entire avatars you could copy and wear. I guess shopping and choosing hair and shoes isn't the point for Ivy Leaguers!
There were some interesting places to visit while there.

September 28th Trig Inkpen and Thunder held the first VSTE in SL Math Night. We had about 30 participants. Trig shared how he uses the Greedy game with his high school math classes to teach probability and then we played! We had four tables differentiated by Greedy experience: Novice, Practicing, Masters, and Mixed. The winner of each table and a wild card player with a rose under their chair advanced to another round. The winner of the second round, Miss Amethyst H one a Greedy Table and a pendant. The pendant was created by Thor. I searched math groups and profiles for days to find math related sims and gifts.

Meanie Cyrus

March 20, 2010 while on ISTE docent duty, Cyrus is playing with avatar looks. This one was scary.
I have docent duty 8 am on Saturdays and Cyrus has it at 9. It's a time I know I can usually be available and consistent but there is not a lot of traffic on ISTE island at that time. Once in a while there is a small class or someone just trying Second Life. The rest of the time we play with inventory or chat about our real lives. Thankfully Cyrus abandoned this look!

Sailing with a Bunny

I don't remember this fellow but we had a good time sailing together on this day, until I got a call from real life that my son was in a car accident. All was well in the end but it was a rather expensive episode.

Thor and the Bunny

What do YOU do on Saturday nights? Last night Thor said, "Hey" about the time I was bored with my latest VSTE project. So I said TP me, having no idea where he was or what he was doing. Here we are a little later. When I commented on the tails of other females in the room, Thor outfitted me with a bunny tail. I had the freebie ears to go with it in my inventory. The paw boots were something I bought a while back. SL is so much fun. Thor soon left me for an awaiting date. :-) I love these moments with my friends.