voyeurism

exploring the Blake Sea

to a great many people (well, to me, at least :-P ) one of the best aspects about Second Life is the sheer joy of exploration.

Sundays are days of rest, and i am grateful to God that my schedule was clear this evening.

i took the Raymaker out for a rather extended spin - for more than two hours, in fact. she may be more than two-and-a-half years old, but she still handles beautifully and is no less a head-turner.

here's the route i took. i started from Galaxy Cruise, which is the region just north of the SS Galaxy. after that, i headed westwards and then south towards Honah Lee Field. that portion of the route is shown in red. i spent about twenty minutes at Honah Lee Field, having met - among others - OUTLAW Acker, WillOW Gynoid and Eriki Benelli, and then i flew off again, this time spending most of the journey either underwater (the Raymaker's a fully amphibious craft) or cruising on the surface; that's the yellow route on the map.

the furthest point i got to today was Blake Sea - Turnbuckle. it was getting late by then, so i retraced my route. by the time i arrived back on the SS Galaxy, the sun had set, as you can see.

i had a lot of fun today, and the people at Honah Lee Field were terrific company.

:-)

i took care to park the Raymaker well off the taxiway, on the main apron itself

making a low pass over Honah Lee Field, shortly after taking off

swooping tight and low (as evidenced from the steam trail) to inspect a boat

Blake Sea - Turnbuckle; this is where i turned around and headed back to the Galaxy

home sweet home - the aft helipad of the SS Galaxy

Technorati Tags: geography, maps, navigation, Second Life, SS Galaxy

following the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 from Second Life

the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 will be held in Copenhagen from the 7th to the 18th of December.

residents in Second Life can participate in the event through the hard work of Peter Lundquist (SL: Paolo Rousselot) who has worked closely with OneClimate.net, Beta Business Park and the Commonwealth Islands to host the Copenhagen Expo.

the Expo itself will be hosted at the 350 Pavilion (so called because 350 parts-per-million is considered the safe upper limit of atmospheric carbon dioxide), while Copenhagen Live (live streams from the actual event at Copenhagen) will be hosted at the Arena.

specifically, for Copenhagen Live, on each day of the conference (except for the 13th), between 6 pm to 7 pm (GMT) / 2 am to 3 am (Singapore) / 10 am to 11 am (SL), there will be a live question-and-answer session between in-world audiences and the OneClimate team in Copenhagen, who will have access to conference participants to whom to field the questions.

the Raymaker Field Studies Centre at Praxis has a booth just outside the 350 Pavilion

Technorati Tags: education, geography, globalization, learning, Second Life

in memory of Leslie H Jarmon (SL: Bluewave Ogee)

my friend and fellow educator - Leslie H Jarmon - passed away on the evening of the 24th.

i had not known, but she had been battling against leukaemia for about a year.

the news has come suddenly to me, and i am having difficulty collecting my thoughts.

i think i feel hopeful because i know that Leslie lived long enough for her to successfully communicate her vision of education and learning in virtual environments and fictive worlds to a sufficiently large number of people, so that we - in turn - are free to take that vision and de-construct and re-interpret it individually and collectively in personally meaningful ways.

it is through this process that - from my perspective - Leslie's life had a lot of meaning; both for herself (i'm sure) and for all the many, many people whose lives she touched.

i had always taken for granted that i would visit the University of Texas at Austin one day and get to meet her 'in real life'. this will not happen now, in this world as we know it, but i am not sad because of the memories i have of having interacted with her since June 2007. at first it was through the early original meetups of the Educators Coop (back then it occupied just one sim), and then it grew to being one of her many helpers from around the world whenever she wanted to help fellow-educators new to Second Life have a glimpse into SL's potential affordances for learning. most recently i enjoyed the tremendous privilege of co-editing a special issue of the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research with her and Steve Carpenter.

i think what i would like to remember about Leslie is that she wasn't afraid to dream big, and that she had the courage to fight for her vision.

i hope some of that has brushed off on me.

and because of that, i am not sad today. this post is a post to thank a friend for liberating my own vision for Second Life and learning.

may God bless your soul, Leslie.

the last photo i have of Leslie (Bluewave in her beige suit), 16 Oct 09

Technorati Tags: education, Educators Coop, Second Life

SS Galaxy in the United Sailing Sims / Blake Sea - pics by Alaex Aeon

here are some more pictures of the SS Galaxy in her new location as part of the United Sailing Sims / Blake Sea.

these were taken by Cruise Director Alaex Aeon - her computer setup is obviously wa..a..ay better than what i have :-P

her full flickr photoset is here :-)

Technorati Tags: Second Life, SS Galaxy

in memory of Shala Lemondrop

this post is in memory of Shala Lemondrop.

the human behind Shala passed away yesterday.

Shala, i know you brought a great deal of happiness and meaning into the life of one of my dearest friends, and for that, i thank God for you.

may you find in His arms perfect wholeness and restoration.

may God bless your soul.

Shala Lemondrop (June 2009 - November 2009)

Technorati Tags: Second Life

SS Galaxy - her berth in regional context

here are three maps which show the location of the SS Galaxy in context.

this first one is at her long-time berth at Sagittaria harbour.

this second one is where she is from today, as part of the United Sailing Sims / Linden Lab Blake Sea partnership, and therefore with direct access to the Linden mainland continents of Nautilus, Nautilus City, and Satori / Maebaleia.

finally, this map shows the preceding three continents, together with the Blake Sea and United Sailing Sims - this time in their entirety.

Technorati Tags: geography, landmarks, maps, Second Life, SS Galaxy

SS Galaxy in the United Sailing Sims / Blake Sea - first pic :-)

at 4:15 pm SLT (PST), the SS Galaxy weighed anchor and left Sagittaria harbour.

she arrived safely at her new berth in the United Sailing Sims / Blake Sea, shortly after.

a new dawn has begun for her guests, her Captain, and her crew. may God continue to watch over all who sail with her.

the SS Galaxy, as seen from Little Gull Islands, at daybreak

Technorati Tags: Second Life, SS Galaxy

'Star Trek' the movie is available for purchase :-)

it's been more than a six-month wait, but Star Trek is finally out on amazon and iTunes!!

:-) :-)

Technorati Tags: Star Trek

SS Galaxy - you are invited :-)

the Captain and crew of the SS Galaxy would like to extend a warm invitation to all readers of this blog to attend the docking celebrations of the ship at her new berth in the United Sailing Sims :-)

Second Life time (Pacific Standard time)
November 19th, 6 pm to 9 pm

GMT
November 20th, 2 am to 5 am

Singapore time
November 20th, 10 am to 1 pm

direct teleport to the landing gangway here :-)

Technorati Tags: Second Life, SS Galaxy

SS Galaxy keepsakes

here are some pictures i took, on the eve of the SS Galaxy's departure from the Sagittaria estate.

the entire photoset is here :-)

Technorati Tags: Second Life, SS Galaxy