Joyce Bettencourt › Comments

@Frans: "David Bowie italian version of Space Oddity (ground control to mayor Tom)" - Joyce Bettencourt from Blip.fm

@langley: "RT @aliasannie: "@langley: Ta"" - Joyce Bettencourt from Blip.fm

See more in my Dopplr profile. - Joyce Bettencourt

I'll be there from August 11th until August 18th. See more in my Dopplr profile. - Joyce Bettencourt

I'll be there from June 16th until July 17th. See more in my Dopplr profile. - Joyce Bettencourt

I'll be there from March 13th until March 17th. See more in my Dopplr profile. - Joyce Bettencourt

See more in my Dopplr profile. - Joyce Bettencourt

I'll be there from March 10th until March 11th. See more in my Dopplr profile. - Joyce Bettencourt

See more in my Dopplr profile. - Joyce Bettencourt

I'll be there from February 5th until February 14th. See more in my Dopplr profile. - Joyce Bettencourt

I'll be there from February 7th until February 8th. See more in my Dopplr profile. - Joyce Bettencourt

I'll be there from February 5th until February 14th. See more in my Dopplr profile. - Joyce Bettencourt

In the last long post, I talked about how to make a game world more social. In this post, I want to do the opposite — talk about ways to add the irritant that causes the pearl to form. Social interaction is a pearl of great price, especially in worlds devoted to it; and yet, this pearl does not form easily without prompting. And the prompting often takes the form of an irritant. - Joyce Bettencourt

In today’s strained economic situation, the ability to measure the success of any new project or campaign has become mandatory, as CEO’s are now taking harder looks toward ROI. By collecting and analyzing key data, it is now possible to optimize user experiences, thereby improving overall performance. Companies expanding into Virtual Worlds need to consider overall goals and determine correspondingly specific Key Performance Indicators. Once a set of measurable success metrics has been established, Virtual World Analytics platforms and tools can be evaluated and the process of Virtual World Optimization can begin. In this article, I outline the top providers of Virtual World Analytics solutions. Whether you own a simple Second Life shop or are creating your own corporate Virtual World platform, one of the providers below can help you track and reach your goals. - Joyce Bettencourt

Want to share ideas? The world's coolest brainstorming and mind mapping software has now joined the open source community. - Joyce Bettencourt

Screencast-O-Matic is the free and easy way to create a video recording of your screen (aka screencast) and upload it for free hosting all from your browser with no install! - Joyce Bettencourt

TweetDeck is the most useful application for managing Twitter that I’ve found. While many call it “intuitive,” some of my clients are intimidated by it. Perhaps they don’t realize it has tooltip-type hints when you mouse over the various buttons, or maybe the tips don’t explain enough. For those of you who want more than tooltips, here is a basic introduction to TweetDeck. - Joyce Bettencourt

by Nancy Duarte Presenting via a webinar is tough to do. Presenting in a virtual world as an avatar will surely have nuances that are new for me. Tuesday, January 27, I’ll be on an island getaway. I’m not talking about Hawaii. I’ll be giving a lecture on Microsoft Users Group Island in Second Life. I had to have someone else make my avatar because I was too tempted to dramatically alter my less flattering features. - Joyce Bettencourt

The Meta-Mole.com is a comprehensive database of Virtual World environments designed for public, corporate and government use. Meta-Mole.com provides users with a total solution that includes: * comprehensive search facility * generalised and detailed technical information for a wide array of platforms * images and streaming video media * dynamic matrices for comparative analysis of environment functionality - Joyce Bettencourt

Content today is increasingly delivered by audio both online and in the real world. We have radio shows and newscasts, and in recent years, podcasts, audio books and navigation/car assistance systems have been added to the field. Audio is more emotional, as sound effects and acoustic atmosphere enhance content to help deliver its messages. It also affords users the opportunity to interact with content while their hands and eyes are busy (i.e. when doing physical work, driving, walking, etc). However, the inclusion of audio often results in usability issues that make it difficult for users to access and understand content. Luckily, a wide range of techniques employed in information architecture, journalism, usability engineering and interface design are available. All that’s required is the knowledge to combine them effectively. This article presents a practical framework for designing and implementing audio-based content, such as podcasts. - Joyce Bettencourt

The Extended FAQ states that it is okay to create and distribute homebrew viewers as long they adhere to the respective licenses for code usage and server usage. The code itself is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL), which governs modification and redistribuition of the source code. Use of Linden Lab's servers will still be governed by the Second Life Terms of Service]. Homebrew viewers are obviously not associated with LindenLab, are governed by their own respective licenses. LindenLab is not responsible for any desired or undesired results in association with those viewers. - Joyce Bettencourt

Today we are very happy to share some exciting news with you: Linden Lab has acquired Xstreet SL and OnRez - the two leading Web-based marketplaces for buying and selling creations for Second Life. Over the past few months we’ve been working with the folks at Virtuatrade and the Electric Sheep Company to hammer out the details, and today is the first day that we’ve been able to talk openly about this next step in our evolution. The Next Chapter for Xstreet SL and OnRez First off, we’d like to congratulate both teams for their vision, passion and commitment. Xstreet SL and OnRez succeeded because they provided great opportunities for merchants, built delightful experiences for shoppers, and fostered dynamic and creative communities. Hats off to them! - Joyce Bettencourt

Odd how trends come and go. When I was at the New Media Consortium meeting this past summer the teachers seemed a little shy around Second Life - almost as if many of them had been burned by it, or were uncertain of it - that the shine had gone off a little. But increasingly, the signs are that the uptake by education of virtual worlds continues. Shifts to openSim and secure servers might soon be matched by comparable offerings by Linden Lab, giving the IT/security folks some relief (and letting them get some hands on the tech - always critical to keeping them on side). - Joyce Bettencourt

In an almost surreal scene, unprecedented numbers of euphoric people are mobbing America's capital city to celebrate a new hope for a beleaguered nation. It is a celebration so huge that the bounds of reality cannot hold it in. For the very first time, the inauguration of a new president will be trumpeted in this world and another; in life and in Second Life. There are those who would dismiss Second Life's Inaugural Ball as a mere novelty, but it is more akin to the novelty of a first black president: It may be hailed for the moment as something sparkly and new, and, in truth, the initial moment may be little more than fanfare, but still the event marks an undeniable change in the future evermore. The effects cannot be predicted, much less measured. From this day forward, it is doubtful any serious political candidate will fail to represent in virtual worlds, particularly in Second Life. - Joyce Bettencourt

Welcome to SciCentr.org, Cornell University's online museum of virtual worlds and interactive Web sites. We provide resources and programs for educators nationwide. Since we cast one of the first threads of the Web back in 1994-1995, our continuing goal has been to explore how to share our excitement about learning using new media. Our programs feature Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics in the context of learning by doing for the ever-expanding community. This site is the hub for SciCentr programs whether they are based on the Web or in virtual words. - Joyce Bettencourt

“Here’s an idea: A young person goes to an art school or a design school to learn design hands-on among designer peers, then they get a job in the real world to learn about business, then if they work hard and pay attention in a few years they flower into what you call a “design thinker”. Or they go to a business school and then start messing around with Photoshop, HTML and CSS, Visio or CAD, pencil and paper, or whatever design tools they can. They get a job in the real world working closely with designers. They actually practice design more and more — they “pay their dues”. And then, again, after a few years of work and dedication they also blossom into a “design thinker”. - Joyce Bettencourt

The Open Source Metaverse where you can create your own simulator and connect it to our public grid. To get started, create an account and read the instructions on the menu to the left. - Joyce Bettencourt

The SL™ Asset Server is not absolutely reliable and often loses irremediably the hours of your work or the expensive objects that you bought. Second Inventory gives you the possibility to save all your items, regardless their nature, to your hard disk with a click, preserving them forever. - Joyce Bettencourt

ike many core SL users, the OpenSpace fiasco inspired us to look around seriously at alternatives to relying solely upon Linden Lab. The OpenSim software, which is open source and free, seemed worthy of review as we could reuse our existing SL inventory and we hear that IBM and Microsoft are starting to contribute code and actually using the software somehow. - Joyce Bettencourt

Global Kids’ Second Life Curriculum is composed of nine sequential “levels.” Each level is composed of modules which, in turn, are composed of individual lesson plans or “missions”. In total there are 134 missions. These can be used as hand-outs to develop specific Second Life-specific skills or within a broader educational program designed to teach such subjects as science, filmmaking or literature. The content is licensed as Creative Commons (attribution-noncommercial-share alike). You may adapt this curriculum, but please always give credit to Global Kids and to share significant changes or best practices with other professionals implementing the curriculum at RezEd.org. This wiki and corresponding GKCx extensions in Second Life, PDF and Sloodle are likewise licensed as Creative Commons (BY-NC-SA) by Jeremy Kemp and Stephen Kemp. See additional contributors by clicking the "history" tab. - Joyce Bettencourt