A year ago on The Metaverse Journal
June 27, 2008
1. We reported on an influx of new Australian Second Life residents after a story on Second Life on 60 Minutes.
2. The Women’s Weekly got excited about Second Life.
Popularity: 3% [?]
“CyberStars” shoot commences
June 25, 2008
CyberStars is the upcoming Second Life documentary by December Films for SBS. Shelley Matulick is the driving force behind the project and we’ve covered her blog previously as it provides some great tips on making your own machinima.
Shooting has started on CyberStars so here’s hoping for some local documentary goodness before the end of the year.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Australian Educational Institutions: what are they thinking now?
June 24, 2008
It’s no secret that Australian educational institutions are getting involved in Second Life, much like their counterparts overseas, but who is involved now and what is the purpose of their respective virtual presences within the Australian educational community?
It’s been some time since the last wrap-up post concerning Australian education in Second Life; “First in, best dressed - is SL worth it for Aussie Universities?” was presented in March 15, 2007 so I thought it was time for a fresher look.
I located the sites and the names of groups created by each institution. This list represents the information we gathered from using the Search function in Second Life, the Google search engine on the web, plus information from past Metaverse Journal posts. URLs are for locations within Second Life:
Australian Film and Television School (AFTRS)
University of Southern Queensland (USQ)
Victoria University
RMIT
La Trobe University
Griffith University
Murdoch University
Gippsland TAFE (unreachable location)
Swinburne University (unreachable location)
Monash University (unreachable locations, and several groups)
Kangan Batman TAFE (group only)
Hobart College (group only)
Also definitely worth mentioning is Jokaydia. It is an educational project developed and run by Jo Kay, a resident of Australia (jokay Wollongong in Second Life). Jokaydia is also home to projects run for TAFE NSW. Jo is also responsible for at least the Swinburne build and several of the groups.
For the most part, these presences all have one thing in common: they are very difficult to comment on, either because they are not open to the public, or because they do not seem to be designed for public usage.
Jokaydia and the AFTRS presences are the exceptions: attractively presented, packed with useful information pertinent to their field of study, well sign-posted and equipped with maps and teleporters. These places seem to have been put together with the intention that the public have easy and informed access to them. The USQ, too, has put some thought into these factors, having clearly marked areas for shopping, career and educational information, and gatherings.
Of the remaining sites which are accessible by Second Life residents, the RMIT site alone seems to have been presented for the public to peruse, however sign-posting and information about the projects on display is sparse at best. The presentation is also quite haphazard, making the whole thing quite unnavigable. The rest appear to be representations of real-world sites, however they have little or information about either education or the build itself, and there is little that is interactive. Thus, they are broadly unsuitable for the general public.
Of course, there is very little information available at present about the not-for-public sites. With so little general information being available for each of these places or groups, it is also very difficult to determine their usefulness and suitability for the populations that they have presumably been designed for: the students and educators of each individual establishment.
While it is obviously early days, and the virtual worlds platform is a relatively new medium for education in Australia, I would prefer to see more information about education and more support for education of the general public. Take for example the excellent work seen at Harvard Law School’s island in Second Life. More information concerning the institutions and the courses and classes being offered by them, ideally with a focus on interaction, would potentially be beneficial, as would some sign that the spaces are actually in use.
With that in mind, I would like to contact the site owners and users to more fully explore how each individual institution has chosen to leverage the virtual worlds platform for the purposes of modern education.
Popularity: 15% [?]
Video of SL5B opening speech
June 24, 2008
Linden Lab have released a video of Board Chairman Philip Rosedale’s and CEO Mark Kingdon’s opening remarks for Second Life’s 5th anniversary celebrations.
Rosedale’s comments were fairly perfunctory and appeared to be off the cuff though he did give some interesting insights into the first few weeks and months of Second Life’s public existence in 2003. His comment that what Second Life was doing culturally was “outside the bounds of possibility” was a little overblown but the general point on the diffuculty of trying to capture Second Life’s culture in one event is certainly valid. One of the more fascinating comments was that Linden Lab are ‘keeping the lights on here’ - I wasn’t sure if we were meant to feel grateful or whether it was considered a major feat to have kept things running (which to some extent it is).
CEO Kingdon’s comments were a little more formal and largely a rehash of Rosedale’s effort both in content and delivery. Have a look for yourself and let us know what YOU think.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Tateru’s year in review
June 24, 2008
For those wanting a comprehensive overview of the past year in Second Life, then Tateru Nino’s year in review is hard to go past.
What have your highlights been over the past year?
Popularity: 3% [?]
Patents and virtual world commerce
June 23, 2008
Terra Nova has a fascinating article on patents and virtual world economies.
Our recent interview with Dr Melissa de Zwart from Monash University shone some light on this very grey area - there’s still so much legal precedent still to be established.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Introducing: Feldspar Epstein
June 22, 2008
Over the past eighteen months or so The Metaverse Journal has grown slowly but surely - our readership has grown every single month since our launch in late 2006. We have two intermittent contributors in addition to myself but the time’s come to expand the number of writers. Therefore, I’m extremely pleased to introduce Anastasia Vesperman (SL: Feldspar Epstein).
Anastasia is based in Melbourne and has been involved with virtual worlds for more than ten years. Her brief is wide: to bring one story weekly on anything inspiring or interesting happening in Second Life or other virtual world.
I’ll let Anastasia introduce herself further but suffice it to say I’m thrilled to have her on board. Please make her feel welcome 
Popularity: 3% [?]
