That’s right.  A presentation on presentations.  Right about now is when I kick myself for never, ever writing down the presenters name.  What kind of notes do I take?  Srsly.  This was a great talk on the basics of talking at a group of people.  And…GASP…he used no slides!  Which was awesome because the absolute reliance on OO.o/PowerPoint/Keynote/whatever slides that happens (not necessarily at BarCamp but EVERYWHERE) kind of drives me crazy.  Most presentations could be handed out and lose the speaker and you would get more out of it.  But I’m ranting…

Other things I jotted down:

Human to human communication

Make sure there’s 3 clear points

How not to say um, if you think of saying um, inhale (this works!)

A fun session on the history of the Aibo and a little overview of the existing Aibo community despite the fact that Sony discontinued the product.

Aibo’s come apart! They were originally envisioned to have modular parts

Aibo memory sticks are really hard to find (pink sticks which differ from traditional storage memory sticks)

Resources:

tekkotsu.org

aibopet.com

bbs.aibosite.com

iRobot makes a platform called Create (non-vaccuum roomba) which allows you to hack away at it and create other robots.  So, if you want to build your robot army, start with something like this.

Presented by Jonathan Strauss, UnClasses.org

Was setup to facilitate teaching/learning connections.  Everyone has something to teach and this provides a place to publicize and build a group of students.  Referred to as “Casual Learning” (or Casual Teaching I suppose)

Casual learning – everyone has something to teach

Unclasses.org will setup classes by metro area. You setup a class and then host it (in real life).  You can schedule a class and leave info as TBD to see if you have interest before committing a location.

Anyone can teach or learn

Instant knowledge share?

A cool presentation that generated a lot of discussion about Alternate Reality Games.  Discussed using them as marketing tools and talked about the challenges and nuances of running an intricate “game” without shattering the alternate reality or endangering the participants.

-websites used as mystery to drive discussion for traditional media

-Interesting discussion on setting up alternate realities, the boundaries you hit, the wildcards (users trying to break the game) and rewarding users just enough to keep them interested.

BarCampLA 7 has come and gone and I’m going to post my quick notes from the sessions.  They’re not at all in-depth enough to make you feel like you were there but they’re enough to help me remember what I attempted to learn.  Maybe you should come to the next one if my notes aren’t good enough for you.

Terribly sorry about the abrupt stop in the journey across the world.  I’ve recently upgraded both my machines to Ubuntu 9.04 and, it turns out, AMD has decided that their driver that is compatible with this latest Ubuntu is not so compatible with my no deprecated ATI cards.  It’s a perfect storm of frustration leaving me without decent 3D support and thus really shitty looking SL.  I’m holding out for a patch to the previous driver that will rectify all of this. 

Until then…I apologize.

Apologies for my extended break.  Let’s just pretend a curled up under a prim tree somewhere and fell asleep.  My journey resumes…

The railway continues into Calleta and there’s an immediate payoff as a large rail yard full of a collection of train models,  that I imagine most enthusiasts would love, unfolds before me.  There’s quite a variety and the setting is nearly perfect for them all.  Beyond the railyard lie some clues as to what this sim really is. 

I find a collection of posters and helpful object willing to get me started with the Second Life Hobos.  I’ve heard of the hobo subculture but I’ve never encountered anyone who’s a part of it.  I endeavor to hang around here a bit and meet one. Further down the rails I stumble into what seems to be a hobo camp! 

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Whilst on my break from walking I wanted to post this article from New World Notes only because I think it’s rather important.  Important because a lot of folks still don’t grasp VW’s and some refuse to.  This is an application that will make almost anyone take a second to consider the newish technology we all enjoy daily. 

I hope this gets out to the mainstream media as easily as stories of sex/adultery in SL do.

I emerge from below the surface and see a familiar layout.  A light house and a train station.  The boat from Purple pulls up just after I snap a photo.  It looks like I can follow the rails once more and see where they may take me.  I’m barely inland and there’s already some interesting stuff here.  The pipeline from ANWR ends in a green pool which clearly needs to be cleaned up.  The pipe is open ended so, if one desired, one could walk through the pipe back to ANWR.  I do not desire that. 

And now…I feel like a noob…ugh.  There’s a huge map detailing the names and placement of the continents.  I had no idea this map existed.  I’m terribly embarassed as I would have posted this map in the first post to give you, the reader, a far better sense of where I am and what I’m doing.  Sigh.  Fortunately, touching the map gives a copy to place on your parcel.  The object is scripted to update the texture as LL updates or corrects it.  I’m glad this map exists and now, I hope, people are toiling away with written lore of why areas are named as they are.  For instance, the crater at the center of the atoll, when did that happen?  Are there accounts of it happening?  Surely the community can make up some interesting stories that will be passed on through generations.

Continue reading »

Suduffco and Sandra are the two northern most water sims in this channel.  Their main feature is the pipeline running from ANWR. 

I spot two av’s flying underwater but they zip by before I can chat with them.  This channel of ocean sims is often used for the rather popular boat races.  There’s a start line at the surface where I assume the racers start and finish.  Perhaps I can find someone more familiar with the boat race subculture in SL. 

These two sims are really empty but I don’t mind the solitude at all.  There’s no lag, no ugly builds and plenty of open space to swim/fly around.  If you’re looking to really get away, this might be the place.  After all, what does a vacation in SL really look like?  An empty sim methinks.

Progressing north through Sandra the sea floor slowly rises closer to the surface.  The Northern Continent awaits…