I was hard at work tracking down a speaker for our grad student meeting Wednesday when I got an IM from my friend Noir asking about the public NMC campus space. I had heard on the SLED listserve that there was going to be a public campus but I did not think it had officially launched. I went on the SL Observer and there was nothing (poor CDB is still the lone writer – I need to contribute soon!). I checked the search feature in SL and it also turned up empty since the new name was not announced.

Snooping around, which seems to be what I do best lately in SL (still trying to track down anyone from the Masie LearnLand campus – they must think I am crazy) I came upon flickr pics of Learn, NMC’s new public campus.

There has been much discussion about closed spaces and some members of the SLED/Grad student group felt very strongly about meeting in a public space. There is some value to people floating in and out without needing special access. While I understood this point I was disappointed not to use the NMC campous with all its great meeting spaces. We could have really used the ampitheater when we hosted Chris Dede’s talk – the turn out was wonderful. Well, I personally cannot wait to use this space and will continue to consider the closed space for when I introduce my undergraduate to SL in the fall.

Great job guys!

Update on photography in Second Life – the best lighting is Sunrise but you have to be facing East (the sun) to avoid harsh shadows on your face.

Anyone in RL who knows me also knows that I love photography. For a short time I worked for my family’s photography studio and photographed hundreds of highschool seniors. Even though I decided to leave the photography profession it is still something that I love to explore as a hobby. Recently I had the pleasure of being photographed by Anya and decided to experiment with creating “professional” portraits in SL. Would the same skills needed to create portraits in RL apply to SL? What new skills would be needed?

Linden Lifestyles did a good job of providing a novice SL photographer with a few tips on lighting and controling the gaze of your AV . Once you have the Altl + Click mastered the hardest part is composition. You do not want your AV smack dab in the middle of the frame nor do you want to have the shoulders squared off to the camera (end up looking like a line backer).

The key is to have a bit of a tilt in the shoulders – just like a RL photograph (thinking back to all the high school students who I made look thinner with the technique *smile*). I did go ahead and purchases a simple modeling studio that I set up in my sky box – this helps to give that “studio” look. I even saw a soft light box for sale that might help control some of the shadows. Purchasing one would be exciting – getting closer to a real studio set up. My dad would be proud (although he might think I am crazy).

The SL Grad Student Colony and SLED group had a great turnout during their meeting last night.  The goal of the meeting was to plan the Educator’s event to be held at the Second Life Community Convention 2006 being held in San Francisco this August.  Sadly, I will not be able to attend but we are planning on creating a blended event – those who cannot attend in person will due so in SL.  Not sure how this will go, there has not been a lot of like with this type of hybrid meeting especially when the in-person event is held in a hotel (with unreliable connections, etc).

Heidi and I still plan on submitting a proposal based on the work that we did with my class last semester (if you are unfamiliar with this project you will have to wait for the conference *smile*).  Speaking of my class, does anyone know what happened to Masie’s LearnLand in SL?  This seems like a perfect tie in to my org psychology course but no one will respond to my emails

Making great progress on setting up my blog thanks to the help of David (see the third owl link in my blog roll).  I think that it is really shaping up *smile*.  Still no time to write anything serious (academically speaking) but I don’t want to stop writing otherwise there will be nothing to read. 

Relay for life is still going on in Second Life and designer Elikapeka Tiramisu (ETD) released a new must have hairstyle.  I absolutely had to make another purchase to support this great cause (ok, it gave me an excuse to go shopping again).  Linden Lifestyles also recommended an amazing skirt and top set from Dazzle – it is more beautiful then the pictures on their blog.  The flexi prims are just amazing.  One more purchase to mention – check out the elegant sea shell table and chairs that were purchased from my favorite place, Creative Fantasy Home and Garden in Serenity Falls.

The RL Grad Students in SL are meeting tomorrow so hopefully some academic content will follow.

If anyone is reading this I apologize for all the changes – I am still working on a template that I am happy with so do not be surprised to see a number of different schemes.  Yesterday I had a wonderful time supporting the Relay for Life event taking place in second life.  You can read more about this event on lindenlifestyles.com – there are lots of links to great items.  Below is a picture of me with new skin and hair that I bought to support this very worthwhile cause.