Hi everyone!

Today I logged into the Teen grid with my Background Checked avatar - and resumed working with Helen Myers on her Lingualand Project with Skoolaborators.
Helen contacted me a few months ago to build some 3D Classrooms for here.  She wanted one for each language, all connected with Moodle.

I've completed 3 of the Classrooms for her, and will wait for her to get her feet wet in using them before we connect the rest.

Each classroom has an elevator to access it, and several 3d learning tools inside.

I've placed a Sloodle Web Intercom inside her class so that all class chat activities can be logged and archived on her website in a Moodle Chat room! 
Next, I connected up a Sloodle Vending Machine for her in each classroom so that she can easily distribute virtual objects to her students.
I also connected 6 quiz chairs to a Sloodle Awards Scoreboard, so that she can give Moodle Quizzes to her students in Second Life in style!  Students will simply need to sit on a quiz chair and go!
All correct answers will win each student 10 points on the scoreboard!

I also setup a scavenger hunt in each of the classrooms.  Now, all Helen needs to do is hide the golden cups around her island, and when found by a student - points will be awarded on the scavenger hunt scoreboard!

I also added a Game Buzzer I programmed to each of the classrooms on the 3rd Floor.  Helen can use these when hosting live trivia games in Second Life.

Anyhow, in the picture below, you'll see that the French, Spanish, and Italian classrooms are all fully functional! We wish Helen good luck in her first ever Sloodle Class in Second Life!

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Hi everyone,

Below is a picture of me sitting in my private virtual office in Second Life.  Yes its true, I have my own virtual office where  I can meet clients in the 3D world.  Cool heh?  Once logged in, my clients can meet with me in FULL AVATAR form - just like the movie! (Except you are not physically embodying another being - its a computerized version!).  When meeting, we can use our headsets to talk, exchange virtual items, share  presentations, and explore the 3d space together.

My 3D office has a special purpose however, beside private meetings.  It also is a conwork area where I make accessible to the world, my virtual creations.  On the shelves behind me, you may notice that I have something that looks like a computer.  That is not just for show actually - it has a real functioning purpose.  I can actually place items inside it - by dragging them from my inventory into its contents.  Each virtual item can also contain "scripts"  which are little programs that specify what the 3d item can actually do.  The computers on my shelf have special scripts inside which react when items are placed inside them.  The server with the XLSTREET label on it, actually  reports to the web, all items placed inside, so that other users who are interested in purchasing these items, can view their description on the Second Life Marketplace. Pretty neat huh?

I've also programmed a few "servers" of my own in Second Life, which report other data to the web.  I do this by making the servers talk to my websites, and listen to responses from the websites they communicate with.  I use various programming languages to accomplish this - including LSL (the Second Life proprietary language), PHP, and Mysql.  I also am dabbling with Django, and other programming languages to faciliate communications between the web and virtual items located in Second Life.  If you'd rather not use Second Life, but be the creator of your own virtual universe, (place your servers behind a firewall etc) then check out the Reaction Grid - it's based on an opensource version of the Second Life server.

If you'd like to see the items in my XstreetSL server in Second Life, you can view them (and purchase them) on the web by visiting my storefront here:  https://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&MerchantID=34420

If you are interested in finding out more about how items communicate with the web, and want to be apart of the emerging 3D web, you can contact us on our About page, and perhaps we can help you! Cheers!


(Fire Centaur - My avatar) Sitting at his desk on my 3D island called English Village

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GREAT NEWS!

Hi everyone, Paul here,

I've been busy re-designing the Sloodle Scoreboard which is used in the virtual world of Second Life.
I am pleased to say that I have made some really great strides forward.  

Here is a quick sneak peak of the upcoming features:

• Scoreboards now acts as a leader board with multiple "rounds"
• All Game rounds get displayed in a list in Moodle in the Sloodle Awards activity and show 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places.
• Users can click on the rounds in the list to see all the scores recorded for a particular round
• A "New Game" button has been added, so a  facilitator in Second Life can easily start a new game with everyone at Zero
• The Scoreboard no longer displays the entire class list. Instead, it just displays users who have entered the game
• The quiz chair has been modified so that when sat on, the user automatically get's entered into the current round being played
• Facilitators can view a log of all transactions on Moodle for each round played!

This scoreboard should now be MUCH more versatile and Useful.

I still would love to tie the the vending machine into this so we can give prizes... but one step at a time!

Below are a few pictures of the different screens, as well as an image of me programming the multiple scripts in Second Life that make up the new improved and upcoming SLOODLE scoreboard!

Me programming all the scripts in this beast!

(Below) The Leader Board Screen that lists all the Game Rounds

(Below) The Game Scores for a particular round

(Below) A list of all the transactions of a user for a particular round - so a facilitator knows where the points came from in case there is any debates

Anyhow, I have a few more things to do on this - on the Moodle side... but once it is ready to go, I'll release a message on the SLED mailinglist!

Cheers everyone!

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Today I read an SLED post by Rameshsharma Ramloll,

It was about a thesis he wrote regarding Wayfinding in Virtual Environments.
I read his thesis with great interest, because Wayfinding, is a very important issue in Virtual Worlds.

Imagine, as an avatar, you have to navigate through an entire virtual city, either by walking or flying to find an object.   This can be quite a task with only your basic arrow-key navigational interface.  Most virtual games have maps which the user can use to get its barings.  

Imagine though, if a user had access to something similar to a Google Maps search interface.  If you've ever used google maps to find transit directions from one bus stop to another, you'll understand what I am getting at.  Using Google Maps, I can type in my start and end desitinations, and after clicking the transit icon (instead of the car, or pedestrian icons) Google Maps will give me a written list of how to get to my destination including which transfers I need to take etc.

Imagine now, applying this same concept to a virtual world.  You've just landed in the middle of a Virtual City, or Island, and are trying to find the location of a Real Life business which has set up shop in the virtual world. If you use Second Life, and have arrived at the virtual island where the shop is located, depending on the island setup, you may not actually arrive exactly at the offices door front.  So, you will have to fly around searching for the office in the VR space until you find it.

If though, you could simply type into search (while on the island) the name of the virtual store, and then once found, the your 3d client browser would give you a list of waypoints on how to get there... and then give you the option to auto-pilot your avatar to the exact location from your current position -  would be pretty cool, and usefull!  Not only would you get to see the locations around your destination as you are navigating towards it, but you would also have an efficient way to navigate in the VR space.

In Rameshsharma Ramloll Thesis, he proposes a cognitive browser which displays thumbnail snapshots of the environment which the user can click to navigate to those locations.  Thus, instead of manually flying through VR space, a user could simply navigate through it by clicking on thumbnails.

(Image taken from Ramesh's thesis with permission)

Imagine now, the Second Life browser with an interface similar to this - with thumbnails of the points of interest in a sim... this, in my opinion would be a killer app for Second Life, as it could facilitate more traffic on ones land...

Here is a quick mockup of what it might look like:

In order to implement Ramesh's idea, we could either build this in the SL browser or create a HUD.  To faciliate mass adoption and sharing of path however, it would be VERY useful if we could automate the creation of SL image snapshots of locations via LSL code.  I've submitted a Jira for this here:

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Hi everyone,

Fire Centaur here. Good news!
I've had several users interested and try out my Oil Spill simulation in Second Life.

Today I received comments from a Facebook user about the simulation. It was good to read the comment... as this oil spill is quite a controversial matter.

The reader of my blog commented that the simulation was "in poor taste".  Naturally, I was compelled to reply!  I'm listing my response below, just so that you have a better idea as to why I've built this simulation.

I welcome any more feed back. Thanks for reading!

Hi Trella,

I'm Fire Centaur in SL - I created the Oil Spill simulation on my island English Village.

I hear what you are saying, and value your opinion.

Second Life is quite an enabling technology.  It's environment can be customized to tell a story, engaging a user, to see things in a very rich context.

If done right, a simulation can have a profound effect on the user. Simulations can guide users through a story, give them tasks, and bring them in contact with other like minded users.

Used in this way, it can be an amazing delivery platform for education.

In my oil spill simulation, I am inviting people to become part of a solution of a broader goal: to plug an oil pipe at the bottom of my islands ocean.

The activity is simple, the user gets a cap from xstreetsl.com, swims down to the bottom of my sim, and tries to plug the pipe with the cap.  When the cap is brought within range of the pipe, an audible message is heard that says "Within capping range! Click to cap now!" The user clicks the cap, and the oil pipe stops leaking oil.  Then ... one minute later, the cap blows up, and oil starts to flow again.

The purpose of this exercise - which takes about two minutes, (unless you have experience in SL) is to do one thing:

Get you focused on plugging a flowing oil pipe.

I am hoping this will encourage discussion of the tragedy, and promote action.

The money earned from selling these caps on xlstreet goes towards clean up efforts.

To try it out - teleport to English Village, and follow the red arrows to the pipe. Instant Message me in Second Life.  If you'd rather just try it without donating, you can contact me in SL and I'll send you some caps for free.  OR, better yet, if you have an island of your own, and would like this oil simulation on your seas to help promote discussion etc, let me know and I can install it for you too!

Cheers

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NEW SIMULATION

Oh no!!! There has been an Oil Spill on English Village!

Hi everyone, I have created an OIL SPILL simulation complete with a game. Your objective is to plug the oil pipe nested far below the surfice of our now brown waters with a cap.

5 packs of the caps can be purchased on xstreetsl here: https://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&file=item&ItemID=2399711

Once you receive your caps, teleport to the terrible oil rig on our island.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/English%20Village/37/209/246

From there you will see some red arrows.
Follow the red arrows down to the sea floor where our technitions installed the (now broken) oil pipe. Rez your cap, and position it on top of the spewing pipe.
When you get it close within range, you will hear "Cap is in range". At that moment, click your cap, and it should fasten itself onto the pipe and shut off the oil!!!

We hope you can shut off the terrible oil that is spilling onto our beautiful island ocean waters.

For every box of caps purchased, B3D will donate 250L to a clean-up charity.

If you want to purchase this simulation for your island, school, or institution, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

DEVELOPMENT

This simulation was developed in Second Life using LSL scripting code. No animals were hurt during its construction. This is part of B3D's effort to help the environment and to create more useful and fun simulations for educators and students.

SLED POST

When you TP in, you can purchase a set of caps that you can use to plug the spewing pipe.

To plug the pipe, you'll have to swim down to where the pipe is, (after diving off the oil rig) by following the red arrows... then you'll have to take the caps out of your inventory, rez them, and position them over the pipe which is spewing oil. As you move the caps closer over the pipe, the flow of oil reduces a little. The pipe has a push script in it, so you can't get too close, cuz it pushes you away - to simulate real pressure. When the cap is in range of the top of the pipe, it starts saying with audio "Cap is in range, click now" and the hover text turns green. It's kind of fun, and takes a user about 1 minute to figure out how to plug the pipe (not like bp)! When the user clicks the pipe, it will zoom into position, and plug the oil, and the oil pumping sound wil stop... then after a certain time.... there is a surprise... I'm hoping you will find this to be a fun activity and discussion point with your students. I used 2 huge 256x256x256 brown oily textured prims to fill my island with oily water, and propped a great rig at the top of the water, then set my tp landing point to the center of the rig. Currently I am selling caps for the pipe so users can try to plug it, and donating some each purchase to a clean-up charity. https://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&file=item&ItemID=2399711 I'd be happy to set this same simulation up on your sims too, and in the teen grid as well if you like (as I have access there with an authorized avatar) For interested educators who would like a quick set up of the same simulation on their sims, I'll be slotting in installations for next week - I'll be donating some of the proceeds of any contract work for this simulation setup that you send my way, again to an online oil clean up charity as well. Since the script is done, setup should not take long, and I can do the whole kit and kaboodle for you in under an hour on your sim, or in a sky area of your choosing... Alternatively, for those educators that just want to use my sim for a class or two about the oil spill, or for a discussion area, feel free to just stop by and use the area. I'll have the simulation up for a few weeks. Let me know when you'd like to visit if you are bringing a group, and I can set you up with some caps for your students. Cheers, and please spread the word about clean up efforts etc in the Gulf!

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FREE BUZZER FOR EDUCATORS

Have you ever seen a game show where a host asks a question, and players slam their hands down on a large button so that they can answer first?

THINK Price is right, The Family Feud, and Jeopardy

WELL, I created this game piece now for use in Second Life for entertainment and or educational activities.

Main Features:

• Countdown timer with sound effects
• Animated Robotic Game buzzer arm
• A clicker for users to hit when you ask a question
• Drop down indicators of who hit the clicker first
• Numeric keypad to set the timer
• Buttons to engage/disengage/hide the clicker
• Fun Mechanized Robotic  Design
• No Blue Menus
• Zero configuration necessary unless you want to engage multiple host control
• Resize Able
• And Best of all... FREE

The Game buzzer is intended to be used by a live host (you) in Second life, for quiz games and other question answer activities.  Hopefully, it will facilitate educational activities.

Usage

To control the buzzer, the game host clicks on 3 colored cylindars on the Buzzer's base, which are colored Green, Yellow, and Red.

Asking a question
The Game Buzzer itself doesn't ask questions... You do... with your voice, using your head set.  This Game buzzer is just used in your game, so your users can click it when they have an answer, and it indicates to you - who clicked first.

If you want to use the Game Buzzer for this type of activity, just click the Red Cylindar at its base, and that will put it in the "standby" position.

Now ask your question. Then, click the green cylindar, this will make the clicker active. Users will hear a robotic arm sound, and a robotic arm will swing out and a large green clicker will display  with the words "Click Me" on it.  Now, the users can click the green button.  When they do, the first three users' names will appear in drop down drawers below the count down timer, indicating who clicked first, second, and third.

The game host can now choose who should answer the question.  

Timing answers
If the game host wants to set a time limit for the user to answer a question, they can click the "start" button just below the count down timer.  This will start the timer.  The timer will start ticking and counting down.  In the last 5 seconds of the countdown, the tick sound will change to a "beep" warning the user  that their time is almost up.  When time is up, the buzzer will make a large "school buzzer" sound.

Stop and Reset the Timer
For whatever reason, during the event, you can stop and reset the timer. To do this, simply press the stop or reset button. Reset will set the time back to its origional setting.

Changing the Time
I've added an easy to use numeric keypad at the base of the timer.  If you want to set a new time for the count down timer, simply press "Set Time" and click the buttons on the base.  Then click "Set Time" again to save your changes.

Hiding the Robotic Arm and Game Buzzer
If you'd simply like to use the game buzzer as a count down tool. You can hide the robotic arm and game buzzer alltogether, by clicking the Yellow Cylinder at the base of the buzzer.

Multiple Game hosts
I've programmed this buzzer so that multiple people can control it. This is useful if you need a helper to help you during your presentation (Ie: One person asks the question to the student, while the other controls the buzzer and keeps score).  To add "Facilitators" simply edit the notecard in its contents and add the following lines:

Example:

facilitator|Fire Centaur
facilitator|Vuum Voom

(Make sure your Second Life name is spelled correctly with the correct capitalization)
Facilitators should be placed on separate lines, and the owner is added by default)

Usage Stats
In order to create an even better game tool in the future, I've programmed this buzzer to report usage stats to my server. Every 10 hours, it will report how many times the buzzer has been clicked by its facilitators, and the locations at which it is being used.  Location data is important to me, because if you are using the tech I've created, I'd like to see it in action, and how you are using it!  It also will give me an idea of it's popularity.  If for instance, I notice that it is being used every day by millions of people, then... I'll donate more development time to it!  So, if you use my game buzzer, don't gripe at this! It will help you in the future!

Get it here: https://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&file=item&ItemID=2256776

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Met with Chris Flesuras in Skoolaborate today on the Teen grid.  Tested the new Skypods I created for them for their lesson activity.  The new skypods are supposed to record the chat of the users during a chat activity.  Things went alright, but ran into a snag... here is a picture of me logged into SL programming searching for the bug... ah... my avatar life....
..thank god I'm going Salsa dancing in RL this Friday!

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