Drax does Machinima!

The Drax Files, which is a great collection of SL – RL videos / documentaries about interesting things, almost none of which I have actually managed to watch, has recently done an episode about various SL machinima-makers, which I saw an early version of that was very good, so I bet the final one is too:

(Why, you wonder, did I get to see an early version?  Because one of the featured machinima-making entities is the redoubtable team of Karima and Nat, to whose creations I’ve had the privilege of making various scriptish sorts of contributions.)

For more thorough coverage :) see Karima’s writeup and Nat’s German one.

Definitely worth watching!

My acting career continues! :)

Marvelous talented friends Karima and Nat have another movie out, Drink Me With Your Eyes; another rendering of one of Karima’s poems (a passionate piece in mixed English and Spanish), in amazing visuals of dancers and horses and eyes and… well, go see it. :)

I got a little bit part in the bar scenes (expertly sitting on a poseball!), and also in the horses-running-about scenes (as the Slightly Confused Horse), and got to contribute a little miscellaneous scripting also. But mostly just watched Karima and Nat and wondered to myself how they do it.

I will stick to scripting. :) Although I understand some people find that mysterious also!

Aw, Shen :)

This is the welcome sign at Shenlei Flasheart’s SL10B exhibit.

Seems like only yesterday, and ages ago, that we were all frolicking about on Shengri La, accidentally bringing the sim to its knees when temp prims stopped being temp, watching Shen enthusiastically spike overly bitey vampires, meditating in the streams, and generally having fun figuring out what all of this collaboration among creative people in these new-fangled “virtual worlds” was all about.

Now, of course, we have it all down pat. :)

Thanks, Shen, and everybody, for the memories, and also the ongoings, and the yet-to-bes!

Sniff!

Interesting Thing Alert: TODAY: Wed, 11/16, 5:30 pm SLT: Conflict Transformation

Friend Candice Alderton and Trip Tremmor are offering a discussion on Conflict Transformation today at 5:30pm SLT; details below. She says it’s sure to be a lively discussion filled with useful information and some new skills you can easily adapt.

Please feel free to share with friends you think may be interested. The discussion will be held in voice and text.

From Rockcliffe University:

Today 16 Nov 5:30 PM Pacific – Forum on Conflict Transformation
Wednesday, 16 Nov 2011 16:44:20 GMT

Today 5:30 PM SLT Wed 16 Nov
Rockcliffe Forum at RUC IM/IT Conference Center
“Intro to Compassionate Coummunication” with guest speakers.

Find out simple changes you can make in yourself to shift your personal and business relationships. Interact with some first-hand roleplays for some quick practice.

Candice has studied more than two years, completed a year-long immersion program, and participated in many workshops as she pursues her graduate degree in Conflict Transformation. Trip has completed 7 workshops with multiple trainers as well as individual training. Join these two Peacemakers as they talk about Non-violent Communication and how they live it every day.

Should be a good time! And remember to check your weapons at the door. :)

Virtual Worlds Best Practices In Education 2011

I will let friend KendallQ do all of the work here, by quoting the notecard she sent that eventually got me (and got me into) that picture…

Hi all —

Many of you know that the VWBPE Conference starts today.

I had mentioned to some of you that I would be presenting on “Conflict Transformation for Organizations”. This is an unusual topic for a conference of this type and I am excited to be included.

This will be at 2 SLT on Friday. The SLURL is http://slurl.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20South%203/120/117/43.

ABSTRACT is:

Is your way of handling conflict like Howard Stern, Oprah Winfrey; or do you avoid conflict, possibly at all costs? Regardless of the world you are operating from, conflict is a natural part of every-day life and also part of every organization.

“Conflict is normal in human relationships, and conflict is a motor of change. Transformation provides a clear and important vision because it brings into focus the horizon toward which we journey – the building of healthy relationships and communities, locally and globally. The goal requires real change in our current ways of relating.” (source: John Paul Lederach, “The Little Book of Conflict Transformation”)

By reconsidering the way we think of conflict and learning new ways of communicating and relating, we can build stronger relationships with our allies as well as those we inspire to a different way of thinking and feeling.

Not only do we feel and work better with easier relationships but the real “winners” are the individuals who will have fuller, richer lives and are more productive.

OTHER PRESENTATIONS TO CONSIDER:

• “Digital Literacy and the Death of Community: Implications for Education” by Kaseido Quandry aka John Carter McKnight, Friday, 1:00 p.m. SLT
• “Learning about Community in Virtual Worlds” by Elisabeth Hayes (aka Nila Indigo) and John Carter McKnight, Friday, 5:00 p.m. SLT
• “A Virtual Traveler’s Notebook: Some Reflections on Professional Learning & Sharing in Second Life” by Kimberly Flack aka Kimmer, Friday, 6:00 p.m. SLT
• “The Perky Pug: Engineering Play With Strangers in World of Warcraft” by John Carter McKnight, Saturday, 11:00 a.m. SLT

You can find locations for the other presentations by checking out the Master Schedule tab on the left here — http://vwbpe11.vwbpe.org/.

Please feel free to share this information with anyone you think might be interested.

Best regards,
KendallQ

I got there just too late to hear botgirl and friend give keynote. :) I am not really a Educator, and will prolly not go to many Sessions myself, but lots of inneresting people will, so if you get a chance, pop in! Never know who you might meet, or what thoughts you might encounter…

Virtual Ability presents “Fashions for Everyone”

I want to share an intriguing class announcement that went out over “Hey Girlfriend!” (my shopping and general girltalk and silliness group) group IM. It’s a class at Insight Virtual College (a place I now want to find out more about!), given by Virtual Ability (one of the winners of the first Linden Prize for goodness), about making one’s fashion-related things accessible by and friendly to SL residents with various forms of disability.

Fashion aspects aside (we all know how fashionable I am!), this seems likely to be a really interesting session. Virtual worlds are clearly wonderfully accessible for people with some disabilities (regardless of your RL status, there’s no reason to be in a wheelchair in SL unless you want to!), and extremely problematic for others (here I will plug some very interesting work in enabling SL for the blind).

Anyway! Here’s the announcement:

** PRESS RELEASE **
For immediate release

Virtual Ability presents “Fashions for Everyone” at Insight Virtual College. This one and a half hour long class will cover the following topics with plenty of time for discussion and demonstration:

• Background about disabilities in SL
• Relating to people with disabilities in general
• Issues related to clothing
• Store design for inclusion
• Issues related to salespeople

Did you know that 20% of SL residents have some kind of disability? Are you reaching this market with the fashions you create and your store layout? The audience for this class includes SL fashion designers as well as store owners in SL of any type.

Join Gentle Heron and Eme Capalini from Virtual Ability for an informative session that will challenge and enlighten fashion designers and store owners. Both are experts in SL disability issues.

Insight Virtual College (232,81,36)
Stargazer Planetarium
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Insight%20Virtual%20College/197/11/54

Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. SLT
Repeated on Saturday, September 12, 2009 at 8:00 a.m. SLT

Comments are welcome, as always, as well as trip reports from anyone who attends the class. If I manage to remember to go :) I will post a followup.