Second Opinion


NOV \| 2006 Back Issues

	End Real World Hunger in SL? Help the UN
	Virtual News: Now Read This!
	The Teen Grid: Checking In
	Name Dropping: Welcoming New Friends
	Developer Focus: Need Advice?
	Police Blotter: Renewing Customer Support
	Tips And Tricks: Advanced Snapshot Magic
	Editorial: Growing the Community
	Your Letters: Serendipity in Disaster

Waterfalls of Second Life
There is an art to waterfall design in Second Life. Combining movement, particle spray, textures and lighting, all of the below waterfalls are designed for dramatic effect.


1	Support for Healing
A sanctuary for healing with waterfalls everywhere. I particularly enjoyed the one that looked like a waterfall off the Na Pali coast.

2	Uli
Elegant waterfall streaming down to a water wheel coupled with the gentle sound of the water.

3	Shadow Brook
Their calming surroundings will mellow you out for hours.

4	Hikuelo
Naturally the Academy of Water Design has an amazing waterfall. Learn how to design your own while you're here!

5	Dark Paradise
A must-see-in-the-dark waterfall. This soothing and sensual display uses lighting, swirls, and the occasional pop of water spray to create a stunning space.

A "Sublime" Virtual Dining Experience
Sublime is a full-service dining experience in Second Life, providing a romantic and interactive date spot that mimics a real-life restaurant as closely as possible. Don't miss the self-service tables with pub menus, the friendly bartenders who offer free drinks, and the full-service dining room with service by professional wait staff (reservation only!). For a unique experience with friends or loved ones, visit Sublime read more at their website.

She Blinded Me with Science
At the Second Life Science Center you'll find a 3D visualization of live national weather, an exhibit on 3D carbon nanotubes, and more! They are also working to help those interested in creating science content in Second Life, as well as organizing a directory of in-world science content. Visit today.

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Checking In!

I had the good fortune to attend a few teen-related events this past month. The first event was actually on the Main Grid (MG)on New Media Consortium Island as part of the launch of the MacArthur Foundation's Digital Media and Learning Initiative. The MacArthur Foundation is contributing $50 million to digital learning projects and research exploring the "effects of digital media on youth." I went to NMC Island to hear Barry Joseph and Rafi Santo talk about Global Kids Island in Teen Second Life.

Global Kids was the first education island on the Teen Grid (TG) and has been actively supported by the MacArthur Foundation. One of Global Kids' first projects in-world was a digital media essay contest. Teens can pick up copies and read the winning essays, in book form, where they're displayed on Global Kids Island, and anyone can download the winning essays and hear podcast interviews with the essay winners at Global Kids.

Since this past February, Global Kids has been exploring how to bring a youth development model focused on global issues into Teen Second Life. During Camp GK, held this summer, teens chose the topic of child sex trafficking and built an extraordinary sky maze to educate and inspire other teens to take action. The maze had 2500 visitors from the TG in its first eight weeks.

I'm a Global Kids fan. I have great respect for their approach, especially one of their first principles from their TG best practices -"Know when teens know best." So naturally, I wanted a front row seat (with the Second Life camera, anywhere is a front seat) for the presentation. Leave it to Barry and Rafi-after a dynamic presentation with video and slides, they got us all on our Second Life feet doing what they do with Global Kids. They took us through an exercise designed to help us, very literally, to take a stand for our ideas. Barry and Rafi rezzed 4 platforms. We began on the central platform and they posed a timely question: "Is growth good for Second Life?" (Second Life's population had just crossed the million mark). We were asked to move to one of the three "position" platforms they had rezzed: Agree, Not Sure, and Disagree. I'd seen photos of the process in their Blog, but doing it gave me a taste of real life with Global Kids.

I'm also looking forward to watching what comes out of Global Kids' new partnership with UNICEF. Their first joint project will focus on the five year review going on this year of the 2001 U.N. document A World Fit for Children, signed by all countries. Barry and the Global Kids youth participants offer people who can't travel to the TG a window into their experiences in the Global Kids blog. And if you're a teen, you can get involved.

The next event I attended was a REZuation party on TG on the Dougall sim, hosted by liaison Nicole Linden and deejayed by Spike Linden. When teens turn 18, they're automatically transferred to the MG. For many teens who have developed friendships on the TG for months or even years of building, scripting, hanging out and partying together, this can be a bittersweet moment... the vast horizon of the MG awaits exploration, and they bid farewell to the TG forever. The REZuation party is a unique Second Life rite of passage to bridge this gap. In the past, the parties were held on the MG once teens had already transferred. This was the first party on the TG side of the transition with more to come in the future, one a month. Teens can watch for the announcements in the teen forums. Come celebrate if you're a soon-to-be REZuate, and if you're not, help us party.

In tracking down the origins of this only-in-SL word REZuation, I discovered from Blue Linden that teens moving to the MG hated being called graduates, so Blue coined the word REZuate and it stuck. As I joined in the dancing, DJ Spike Linden took requests amidst a constant stream of shapeshifting between his avatars-from a Sci-fi warrior in dark armor to his "inner child" to a grim reaper to a pumpkin head. The party rocked on for four hours and I eventually had to pull myself away. Now that's a good party!

- Claudia Linden