The Big Read comes to Cybrary City II on Wednesday, May 14 at 5:00 pm (SLT). Join us as Rebekah Cavan leads a lively discussion of Fahrenheit 451, censorship and the value of books at The Monroe County Library System Amphitheater in Second Life.
The discussion starts at 5:00 pm SLT, but get there early to save your favorite books from the bonfire before it’s too late!
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cybrary%20City%20II/69/106/21/
This article from Wired goes back a few months - it’s from January. But it’s still relevant.
Anyone involved with Second Life is likely to know that NASA has made a large commitment to virtual worlds and their potential for reinvigorating public interest in the space program. I’ve attended and blogged on some of NASA’s mixed reality events. It’s a fantastic medium for open discussion.
What’s particularly heartening about the Wired article is the fact that NASA sees the huge potential of connecting lonely astronauts with their loved ones through virtual worlds. If you’ve been in-world, you know how real it feels to have a conversation with another avatar, compared to sending an email or even using the phone. It feels like you’re really in the same space, in real time, sharing a moment with another person. For long-distance relationships, this really is the next best thing to being there.
I’ve signed up for email newsletters from bnet. The information provided is concise and highly useful. This video, in particular, is worth sharing with anyone who has to give a presentation. Whether your presentation is a one-time thing or if speaking is what you do for a living, there are tips here that will help you do a better job, and ultimately reduce that anxiety so many of us feel when we give a lecture. All in a seven minute video.
After the video, check out bnet’s crash course on presenting like Steve Jobs. Cost? $0. You can’t beat that!
Were you totally wowed by Microsoft’s Surface? Trying to figure out how to come up with $10K so you can have one for yourself? Save some cash and build your own instead! Technology Review has an article on Eyebeam engineers who created an open source version, and there’s a nice exploded-view image of it at Gizmodo. At a mere 500 bucks for parts and some hands-on building time, who wouldn’t put this multi-touch table on their wish list?
And just as a reminder: Microsoft didn’t invent this technology. Here’s a fantastic video of Jeff Han showing his multi-touch display for Perceptive Pixel, and another from Mitsubishi Electric Research Lab.
Cool stuff. : )
Here’s another useful link on usability:
It’s been a while since I’ve written about web design, but this came across my radar screen this morning and I found it to be very bookmark-worthy:
http://www.jkup.net/terms.html
We tend to forget that terms like “catalog” or “database” can be confusing to users. John Kupersmith’s site is a much needed reminder that we have to think like a patron and limit the use of library terminology.
This came in my email today:
Announcing the One Big Library Unconference
http://onebiglibrary.yorku.ca/
E-mail: onebig@yorku.ca
When: Friday 27 June 2008, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Where: The Centre for Social Innovation, 215 Spadina Avenue,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
“It seems like there are lot of different kinds of libraries:
public libraries, school libraries, university libraries, college
libraries, law libraries, medical libraries, corporate libraries,
special libraries, private libraries. But really there’s just One Big
Library, with branches all over the world.”
The One Big Library Unconference is a one-day gathering of
librarians, technologists, and other interested people, talking about
the present and future of libraries.
It’s organized and sponsored by York University Libraries and
members of the YUL Emerging Technologies Interest Group: Stacy Allison-
Cassin, William Denton, and John Dupuis.
In an interconnected world, all physical and virtual libraries can
really be thought of as branches of One Big Library. We would like to
get together and explore that concept. Areas of interest:
* The future of libraries
* Collaboration on building One Big Library collections and
services
* Uses of social software in libraries
* Tools to support and extend the One Big Library
Our goals are:
* Bringing people interested in the future of libraries
together with the hope of sparking collaboration and cooperation
* Starting conversations between people in different kinds of
libraries, and people inside and outside libraries
Is your first life getting in the way of your second life? Does your avatar get cranky if left unattended too long? Are real life meetings a bore compared to in-world events? Pop into Second Life whenever you want, using your mobile phone.
Vollee has just released a video demonstrating Second Life running on a mobile phone. The application is still in beta, but you can sign up at http://www.vollee.com/secondlife
The app is free, but you’ll need to know a) if your phone is compatible (check the website) and b) what your phone service charges for airtime. If I can get my phone to run the program, I’ll be reviewing the usability of the application in the very near future.
Need a new place to look for free user-generated video? There’s more than just YouTube out there.
Blip.tv is another place where video is easily uploaded, tagged, sorted and found. While poking around the site, I came across this video created by Bernhard Drax. It’s a nice summary of what libraries are doing in Second Life, for those who haven’t taken the time to get in-world yet:
Another venue is mefeedia. Mefeedia is more of a “Program your own TV Station” site. It sorts video into channels for easy viewing, such as Sitcoms or Gardening. I find this a much more valid sorting system than YouTube’s favorites.
Women In Technology Summit
http://www.womenintechnolo
The second annual Women in Technology Summit (WiTS!) will be held on the Harvard University Campus on Saturday, February 16, 2008. Registration is available online and completely FREE.
Local tv news station R-News just showed a segment on the Global Kids Initiative in Second Life. Take a look at the video here:
Recently, librarians Rosa Diaz from the Lincoln Branch of Rochester Public Library and Marcia Thor from the Maplewood Branch of RPL came up with a fantastic new library service.
They brought video cameras out to Fairport Public Library to record the “Babies Love Books” story time which is a program for newborns through 18 months (and their caregivers.)
Rosa and Marcia will be taking the video into the city schools for a program for teen moms on reading with their babies.
We all know how important it is to read to babies, and these librarians have come up with a fun way to spread the idea to young mothers. How cool is that?
The Princeton Review, in conjunction with Ohio University, is now offering SAT Strategy Sessions in Second Life. The next session is January 31, 2008 at Ohio U’s virtual campus. For more info:
http://www.princetonreview.com/testprep/testprep.asp?TPRPAGE=2818&TYPE=LOBBY&adcode=82617
That’s what my new tee shirt will say when it arrives. In an effort to kill time while I’m not feeling well, I spent a good, long time browsing the ThinkGeek website before deciding on the tee:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/ladies/6388/
Here’s what’s new since last time I checked out their site: you can make a wish list. Great idea for people like me who are tempted by, but not ready to commit to, a number of cool geek toys. Do I really want the USB lava lamp? The ambient weather-forecasting umbrella? The LED necklace? How about the do-it-yourself hologram kit? There is just way too much cool stuff, so I’ve put my favorites on my wish list for now while I weigh out my choices.
If nothing else, browsing the site will get your geeky creativity flowing.