NMI at UGA – our Second Life island

Alright, in past missives I have effused about virtual worlds in general and Second Life (http://www.secondlife.com/) in particular, so I won’t take you through that again. Suffice it to say, I think there is a lot of potential there. Next semester, I am going to be teaching a class about Second Life – and in Second Life, too. The class is going to meet from 3:35 to 4:25 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. To give us a place to teach, we have created our own island in Second Life. It is called “NMI at UGA.” Right now there are only a couple of buildings on it and we are still terraforming (man, that sounds hard doesn’t it?), so it isn’t quite ready for the public. But we will be opening it up to everyone in just a couple of weeks. Watch for my announcements.
One of the cool things we are going to be doing is programming events on our island. Musical performances, lectures, drama – whatever. With Second Life, users all over the world can experience these events in real time – and even interact with us. So if you have some ideas for something that you would like to see happen in Second Life, let me know. Maybe you can be a star on our island!
And to get us geared up for next semester, I have invited a Second Life reporter to write a weekly piece on cool things he has noticed in the virtual world. Below is Shamp Writer’s first dispatch.