How I write.

When composing lectures or posts like this, it is at least a six step process for me.

The first is to listen to what others are asking to find topics. Often I have simple short answers and direct references with easy links.  When there are deeper and more interesting ideas unexpressed,  I gather together the knowledge and wisdom and ideas needed to answer the questions fully.   Then everything gets bound into a single document with little organization, just an olio of ideas.  Often things stay in this way for a long, long time until a delivery time and date is chosen.

The first draft can be very very long and repetitive, but it's taking my scroll of notes, copying it, and thinking about an organizational pattern that is suitable to the material.  Then it's shuffle the information around into an order that might work as a lecture or essay. 

After that at-least-third draft by now, the chore is to consider exactly who and when the information is to be delivered and what illustrations and examples to include for those who might have interest and tailoring the material for them, looking for references and citing what I find.  Now it is close to a final form, and it's copy it all again, and go thru for grammar, spelling , brevity, consistency and all those other things scholars honor.

Now, often the same material might work for two mediums, say a lecture in Second Life and a ethereal scroll(-ing webpage) online.   Then it's construct each format for its medium. In Second Life, in example, I can use objects in illustration, but not in a scroll(-ing webpage). Conversely, I can use images freely in scrolls, but not so easily in SL.

When making both a lecture and a scroll, I will prepare for a lecture by constructing a draft but not publishing the online page.  Then, at lecture time, I copy and paste from my scroll draft copiously.  During the lecture, I often receive insight and questions from the attendees that crystallize important points, or tell me what points need exposition, clarification or example.  I quickly provides those on the fly during the lecture slot if I can.  Then, after the lecture, those additions and amendments get edited into the scroll draft, and finally, the scroll can be released.  This page is an example of such a scroll: 
http://aulethesmith.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-history-of-elvish-weaponry-part-1.html

I could make illustrated classroom books like this one about Sheriwood in Second Life with book writers, but I dislike that medium due to the handling of images and loss of copyable text.  To compress data and image for a "page" degrades both the image and the text some, making the text non-copyable into other media (a good idea sometimes, but not always) and the information available only in this very specific context:

• computer on, in SL viewer, 
• logged into that account, 
• object rezzed, 
• camera oriented, and 
• little distraction  

That is a bit hard to achieve, compared to

• computer on
• browser open, 
• web page loaded

Often, when I find such things as images or note cards in SL, I will, with the author's permission only, mirror the book to a blog post like this: 

http://aulethesmith.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-to-create-rp.html

Herald in Genius

Dear Savannah & Dirk:

All the best to you both - you've made a neat introduction area in Orientation Station and I wish you all success with it! "Orientation Station," along with the other private portals to SL have been on my radar for a few months, and it came up again. Please use this data as you see fit.

While Mentoring in HIP 2 and three shopping areas, I had several contacts with new residents who were having trouble with appearance and knew nothing about IM or chat history. As an SL Mentor, I thought this a bit unusual, but I taught them what they needed to know. In chatting, I learned they each came through "Orientation Station" (I had them map to "home"). I visited it to see how this private orientation sim works now.

Summary/Overview

There are five sims arranged in a + shape: center is a regular sim with lots of advertising, the four ends are "void sims" (low prim, low traffic) orientation courses when new players follow the path and signs and learn what they learn. Lag quite good in all of them. There were only a few new residents and the occasional MetaVerse Mentor to guide things along. The design is open and inviting. There is some inventive presentation, but there are some holes in the training.

Details (Notes taken during the visit):

Typical rez point: 􀀌 (Look up "Genius" sim. I'll post a SLURL later)

• Walk instructions embedded in floor and a poster. You can't see them clearly from the first arrival, so you have to know how to walk to learn how to walk.
• There are a set of flags on boxes with no content, saying "coming soon" and "Choose your language" - but no functionality. No instructionn on point/click nearby: who will know how to use them? ummm. Everybody: point/click is universal for any web-users.
• Verbal/voice/sound in first area indicates streaming sound, but no stream audible. How do I know I'm set up right.
• Training stations: eye catching purple and white signs on the walls guide you through the area.
• station 1-3: Move by arrow - duplicate instruction . (Good!)
• Surprise water splash in an easy obstacle course. Nice.
• YAY: two unusual move methods introduced: mouse-av-arrow & shift-arrow.
• Voice instruction looks fine Stations 4-7 but no one to talk to, how can you test?
• Buying things. #8-9 station graphics too small - a newbie can't zoom yet, so can't read it.
• 10-13 graphics okay
• Nice freebie boxes, but some broken: orb box. little black outfit. 300 avatar.
• I can open a box, but not take or return it yet. - 10 minute auto return solves that.
• Station 15 is "step 2" and is on the left of step one (?) #16
• #18 Mouse look error: if chat is on, "m" doesn't work.
• 20-27 okay, but movie doesn't play. Graphics and text small. but I know zoom now.
• 28-31 how do you open a chat box? The chat hat didn't work for me. O:(
• A quick flight (nice bit of story telling , there) and we're in the center area.

"Clever" Sim 􀀉􀀋and two other "newbie sims" are very similar:
Layout and instructions identical. Dressing is a little different (e.g.: Scholar has some ivy)

Center area:

• Four "entraces" from four orientation sims,
• two horse arenas, nice freebie AKK horse & horse area with sculpties.
• two build stations, with "prim rezzer" tool: nice object􀀈 but complex for a beginner - and newbie still doesn't know how to do chat history.
• a lot of "free item" signs (mostly an interesting batch of LMs to stores)
• Central arena with nice ampitheatre dead center (rez point underwater there?)

Time spent 4 hours over three days. Time with a mentor on sim: 20 mins.

A Metaverse Mentor, DanOfWA Flanagan, was polite, and helpful to the new citizens there. But Dan says I can't wear SL Mentor tags here or help the newbies as a visitor. "Don't want to confuse the new folk." Awwww. Not a nice policy IMHO. I complied, but had several problems with this ~

• ~ I was embarassed not to have known it already.
• ~ MVM's are somewhat rare.
• ~ No notice is available in world that this is so - how will SL mentors know?
• ~ (Perhaps a notice in "about Land" or the group attached to the land?)
• ~ I've never been in a SIM where any "legal" tag was not tolerated before.
• ~ (Especially not a SL Mentor Tag.)

Metaverse Mentors is run by Dirk Talamasca and Savannah Glimmer. Prominent SL Mentors Doctor Gascoigne and SoulLDK Simpson are members of the group.

Summary:
Some great design and structure. Education is direct and flows well. The training lineup missed some very important SL tools:

• IM, chat: no instruction anywhere. No chat history.
• how to buy (illegible instructions),
• nothing on inventory control.
• appearance: not a lot of detail. (missing movie)
• nothing about friends or snapshot.

Thanks for making this nice place. I hope you can do a few tweaks.

Arth