some people like to take a break and explore being anything they want to be – from blue flying bears to little beavers to pink-haired winged emo wannabes to robots, others like to share their music and play for VW concerts and clubs, some like to create fantasy lives with wild houses, flying machines, and great wardrobes. some people love to make clothing, hair, buildings, animals, vehicles, and plants while others use it as a collaborative real-time meeting environment or as training tools
there are umpteen reasons to do virtual worlds and umpteen yet to be done
whatever it is that you do, chances are that others would too. the difference between you who have found virtual worlds to be a great whatever and the person that has not yet is simply exposure
the more exposure virtual worlds have, the more they will grow. the flying blue bear above only discovered virtual worlds after seeing a Swedish-dubbed TV show called CSI featuring Second Life!
most of us probably don’t have access to sharing what we do on TV but we have the web
if you don’t put snapshots online, maybe start doing that. if you don’t upload videos, maybe try it out
many tools and sharing sites are free (or reasonably priced and you could do a free WordPress for a photo/video blog – no need to write a word)
if you already do pics and/or vids, are they under a Creative Commons license?
the default license for most sharing sites is not Creative Commons but it is usually something you can change to be your default
share what you do and allow others to share it too! sharing is caring! =)
create your own license and decide what others can do with it – i allow full use, even modification for commercial use, but that’s up to you
All of the above :-)
Sarge Misfit
16 May 12 at 10:58 am
haha we have no dubbing in Sweden! They have removed the race scene with the blue bear from Youtube sorry to say :( I only found this short episode from CSI: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfzCvX7nWQA&feature=related
Yes I got stuck because if a flying blue bear, that´s me :O)
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Mera
16 May 12 at 11:01 am
I have learnt so much and things otherwise I would have never known.
Eros Deus
16 May 12 at 1:20 pm
I had blogged about myself back in February. Here’s a link.
http://desonbowenford.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/why-i-go-into-vw-virtual-worlds/
Deson Bowenford
16 May 12 at 3:56 pm
awesome post Deson! =)
and dang Mera, i can understand Swedish! (or was that clip in English?) =D
\o/ Sarge and Eros – the learning part and all the above is what pulled me in too, the things i have learned are more than technical – i have learned a lot about different people too =)
Ener Hax
16 May 12 at 4:19 pm
i went to silicon valley in 1978 for two reasons: plato and work at intel. i have started to learn plato (2D scripting system) and talking to scientists from all over the world over apranet but a job at intel interrupted me from plato.
over the years at intel, national semiconductor, and olivetti i learn 2D/3D computer graphics including 3D holography. but then i found muds (multiuser dimensions or dungeon)which was text-base and one day someone from australian was talking to me. in short, i learned all types of muds systems and became a mud advocate. thats when i develop my own version — a home mud system that would be connect to other worlds.
the turning point was when everquest was ready. its was a diku-based but graphics and everyone left my group to go to everquest. i did too.
eventually i stumbled on second life in oct 2007 and had the high hope that as soon as the server side went to open source, i could build my version. well LL didnt go to open source with the server but opensimulator was struggling to get a server out so i played with 0.3 to find out how to do stuff.
i looked at sl for collada, pathfinding, and npcs. its ok but has a way to go yet. with eqemu (eq emulator) you could put the whole system on your computer. and mangos (wow emulator) was the same way and had more npc interactions.
and of course i looked over the years at realXtend. some of the ideas are good, but i really dont understand it anymore since they change it.
bristle
16 May 12 at 8:26 pm
OH its in Swedish! U are awesome Ener, so skilled :} And the blue bear was only my entrance into Virtual Reality. Im here because I need this fantasy world as a place to relax from RL and “clean my brain”. I dont like TV much it´s too passive for me. We need to embrace the child in ourselves to keep sane.
What i do in Virtual worlds? My english has improved a lot due to my english speaking friends and that benefits me in real life too. I get to express myself in my blog and building stuff. Virtual horse breeding and virtual land business is exciting! I cant cover it all here, I just love virtual worlds <3
Mera
17 May 12 at 3:52 am
Paramedics. Working with lecturers in health related topics, I heard about Second Life shortly after seeing an exam question for paramedics. The question was about being first on the scene at a major incident, and how to handle it. What I think americans call “first responder”. This kind of paper or tabletop scenario is also worked through as an educational exercise.
I thought SL would provide an enhanced experience, compared to a paper exercise, and it turned out there already were projects ongoing. This is not really training, it is more properly called Problem Based Learning (PBL)
http://code.google.com/p/pivote/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem-based_learning
I did a post grad module on this and had an interesting conversation with the tutors as to how we would classify this type of team based learning in a 3D on line environment – basically, it’s new!
It would be interesting to continue with a more practical post grad project, but at the moment it doesn’t look likely.
Anyhow, that’s why I started learning more about SL, and the main reason I stuck it out through the initial learning process, when most people give it up.
But I did not like the charges or the TOS at SL, discovered OS, and here we are.
Having started from a purely practical perspective, I think I now do OpenSim because I do OpenSim. It’s both a technical and a creative, and absorbing, pastime.
But I also keep on with it because I see steady progress. It isn’t like a technology that stagnates or dies. It gets better each year, and much more feasible, it’s a positive thing to be involved in.
keith selmes
17 May 12 at 4:11 am
On open Sim I come to have the home i can’t have on Second Life and share it with my love!
As i don’t know if this is a blog that allows adult content expressions i should avoid saying the 1st reason that lead me to virtual worlds and Second Life in particular and still the main one even now!
But i come to c#m and stil come to c#m more!
ZZ Bottom
17 May 12 at 8:51 am
Its my fancy Lego set, my modelling clay to play with. I have many creative ideas, old purists, stories and what not. I didn’t really have a decent outlet for them before I found OpenSim (not a current one anyway). I have learned the ropes now somewhat and am starting to spin some of them into my regions. So that’s why I’m in virtual worlds. Thanks Ener for introducing me to them.
Araxie Longoar
17 May 12 at 10:20 am
lol, you can be adult on here – i won’t post nude pics, but you can speak your mind (although i may edit some letters!) =D
Ener Hax
17 May 12 at 10:20 am
I came just for curiosity and because in those years. I didn’t have nothing to do and I just hear about Virtual Worlds. From that day many thing change on my life and I am still learning and enjoy a lot. I became strongest and a very creative person but I am still learning new things.
Xpontaneus
17 May 12 at 6:03 pm
I’m part of the “second wave” of SL citizens. In early 2007 when SL was all the hype I read about it on some website or in print media, can’t really remember where exactly. The concept of virtual worlds intrigued me, so I joined 1/18/2007. Easy as that. No exciting story to tell, nothing out of the ordinary.
Oh, I was hooked immediately, addicted a few days after. Still it took me almost 4 years to take the plunge and become a premium member.
Did I think about leaving and trying other VWs? Of course! And I even have accounts in OSG, Avination, InWorldz and some other world I guess, but never spent more than 10 minutes in each of those. Why? Because I’m a rather active SL resident, and what I do requires a community, my friends, my woes, SL’s physics, SL’s infrastructure and SL’s pure size.
Orca Flotta
18 May 12 at 5:26 am
[...] how it can be used. you can do it in a blanket manner like this blog (see the footer or this post) and like Linda Kellie does OR do it on a per item [...]
sharing – be as clear as possible at i live in science land
27 May 12 at 7:41 am