The Chilbo Road Press

In the last few months, there has been much gnashing of teeth and angst displayed about the merge of the Teen Grid and the Main (Adult) Grid in Second Life.  Conversations in forums, on blogs, in group chats in-world and elsewhere have shown that a substantial (or at least very vocal) percentage of Main Grid residents have deep concerns about their ability to continue living their Second Lives without fear of reprisal or lawsuits if minors are permitted on the grid.

I say this is balderdash, making mountains out of molehills, and a very sad commentary on the democratic and civic nature of Main Grid residents who, I’m sure, were once teens themselves.

First, the teens have plenty of restrictions on where they can and can’t go, as Katharine Berry has tweeted; when you look at the map of which sims are accessible to teens, it’s clear that much of the world is off limits right off the bat.

SL World Map minus Mature and Adult sims.  Click image for larger view.

Second, there is no doubt that teens have always been on the Main Grid even if they were there in violation of the Terms of Service, and that has not posed significant issues up to this point even though those teens were indeed able to access Mature regions.  The teens who are coming over now are the ones who follow the rules and abide by the Terms of Service – the ones least likely to be finding ways to circumvent the rules and get into places they shouldn’t be.  The teens transferring now are experienced residents, content creators, and land owners, they have inventories and reputations at stake, just as much as we do on the Main Grid.

Finally, it is not only teens who find some of what goes on in Second Life offensive or inappropriate for public consumption, many adults have no desire to wander in on someone else’s adult activities either!  Adult regions are so designated to give everyone the ability to choose what kind of virtual experience they have – if you are violating the Terms of Service by not keeping your adult activities on Adult sims, you don’t just have the teens to worry about – you have me to worry about too!  Prudes of the world unite!  Ok, just kidding about that part.  But seriously, keeping adult activities in the proper place is the right thing to do for everyone – whether the teens are coming on board or not.

But beyond all those arguments, I guess what I find most disturbing about the noise and angst about teens joining the Main Grid is what it says about the kind of world those residents seem to want – a segregated world where your real world birth date is the single most important deciding factor about whether or not you can access the rich diversity of experiences and people that exist on the Main Grid, whether or not the huge marketplace of content and ideas is accessible to you, and whether or not you’re deemed “worthy” of being in mixed-age company.

That’s not the kind of virtual world that I want, and those residents definitely do not speak for me.

That being said, I work in education, so I am quite sensitive to these kinds of issues.   I fully understand that there is a certain amount of ill-informed hysteria that surrounds the issue of children’s online access.  But there are very real dangers that can’t be ignored, too – from predators who intentionally prey on the young and inexperienced, to accidental exposure of material that is more mature than a young person can handle.  Those issues are real and society has a legitimate reason to be concerned and to take steps to protect the young from that which they are unable to protect themselves.  Linden Lab also has a responsibility in this regard, and in my judgement, their policies are addressing the fine line between your (adult) freedom of expression, my (adult) freedom to avoid your expression, and their (teens) freedom to be a part of the metaverse.

And that, I guess, brings me to the crux of my point.  In the “real world” our various societies and cultures have made a complete hash of dealing with these issues – in the US at least, schools can’t use legitimately educational online services out of fear they might let kids stumble on something they shouldn’t, teachers get fired for posting pictures that adults in other professions wouldn’t think twice about, and in reality most kids have the ability to access any kind of material they want – without adult supervision at all!   The various laws, school codes, filtering policies, and every other attempt society has made to protect children are in reality often completely ineffective.  Nothing replaces parental oversight, involvement, and active engagement to monitor and facilitate a child’s safe interaction with the net.

That’s true of the web, and it’s also true of Second Life.

Hillary Clinton famously said it takes a village to raise a child, and I sincerely believe it is the responsibility of every adult Second Life resident to help us forge a metaverse that works for everyone – adults and children.  Those of us pioneering these new digital worlds have the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of the past and not repeat them – to do better in the worlds we create than has been done in the real world we inherited.   That’s part of the magic that brought us to Second Life, why should that opportunity not be afforded to those born before a certain date?

We have an opportunity to do better, and I hope we will.

- Fleep Tuque, Founder & Executive Director of the Chilbo Community

. . .

The Chilbo Community welcomes residents from the Teen Grid with open arms.  We are excited to see the new content, energy, and excitement they will bring to the grid and we hope they find many resources available in Chilbo to help with their transition.  Please visit and if you’re looking for a place to settle, we have plenty of starter homes and land available to teens, opportunities to contribute your talents,  and many community resources we invite you to enjoy.

Suggestions for Teens to Visit in Chilbo

The Chilbo Town Hall

If you’re looking for a welcoming community to join, Chilbo caters to residents of Second Life who are civic minded and interested in pursuing activities that enhance the public good.  We welcome activists, artists, creatives, and engaged netizens who are passionate about the metaverse.  The Chilbo Town Hall has information about how to join our community and our next Town Hall meeting is scheduled for Saturday, February 12th at 11AM SLT.  Please join us!  Location:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chilbo/99/202/120

Main Street shopping in Chilbo

If you’re looking to open a shop (or to do some shopping!), Chilbo has several commercial properties available in prime locations on Route 10, the Main Street in the heart of the community, as well as other shops and kiosks throughout our town.  For more information, contact Chilbo’s Commercial Director Chibi Lexenstar for assistance or visit the Chilbo Rental and Real Estate Office to see all of the options available – teen shopkeepers are more than welcome!  Location:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chilbo/217/245/115

Land available for tier donation or possible purchase in Chilbo

If you’re looking for land, the Chilbo community has several large and small parcels available in prime locations.  Generally we prefer the tier donation model to support community infrastructure, but we also have parcels that are available for purchase to teens.  All land in the Chilbo Community is subject to our Community Standards, for both tier donors and purchasers.  For more information about donating tier or purchasing land, please contact Mayor Kristine Kristan or Residential Director Maddog Eastering for assistance.
Location: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Kuwol/32/176/101

“The Haus” Coffee Shop & Mad Wax Records

If you’re a musician looking for a place to perform or network, be sure to visit Chilbo’s Music District, including Mad Wax Records, a resource and group for live musicians, and Germelshausen Coffee Shop & Bakery (affectionately known as The Haus) where live performances are scheduled every week.  Talk with Kristine Kristan for more info about resources for musicians at Mad Wax, or MS Hawker to get on the schedule to perform at The Haus!  They’re also planning a street party festival to welcome Teens soon, stay tuned for details!
Location:   http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Madhupak/32/218/96

Chilbo Museum Center

If you’re an artist looking for studio or gallery space, visit the Chilbo Museum Center or speak with Chilbo’s Art Director and Museum Curator Corcosman Voom to find out more information on displaying your artworks!  Chilbo also has many fine galleries and studio spaces where we’ve hosted the works of some of Second Life’s most famous artists including Douglas Story, Desdemona Enfield, Misprint Thursday, and many more.  We’d love to host your art too!  Location:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chilbo/130/31/97

Insight Virtual College in Chilbo

If you’re looking for educational opportunities or interested in teaching, Chilbo offers a number of resources including Insight Virtual College, the Chilbo Public Library, and the Educators Village. Contact Dean Stargazer Blazer for more info about classes and teaching opportunities at IVC, or visit the Educators Village and Chilbo Public Library to network with professors, teachers, administrators and those who work in public education.  Are you getting ready for college and need advice?  Fleep Tuque can help you find information about colleges and universities who offer distance learning and traditional programs in Second Life, too!
Location – IVC:   http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Kuwol/104/49/89 Location – Chilbo Public Library:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chilbo/71/26/101 Location – Educator’s Village:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Madhupak/29/95/67

ChilBowl Bowling Alley

Looking for places to just have fun?? Chilbo offers tons of places to just hang out and have a great time with friends!  You’d be amazed at how fun bowling can be!  ChilBowl offers awesome bowling lanes, an indie music stream with occasional live performances, and fun playable arcade games too!
Location:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chilbo/225/101/100

Church of SecondLientology

Right down the street is the Church of SecondLientology, an irreverent homage to one of Second Life’s most famous Twitter pranksters, @SecondLie – who always tells the unvarnished truth about.. well, nothing, but everything Second Life related!  Location: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chilbo/205/42/94

There are more places than we have room for pictures even – can you find them all?  The Brouwerbunker Untergrundkino secret underground movie theatre and Belly Dancing stage, the Chilbo Community Home, our community hostel for the homeless, the Sandbox for building, Shrubbery Amphitheatre for presentations, and the towering Oracle Tree that holds the secret of Chilbo’s beginnings…

We wish every success to the Teens coming to the Main Grid and we look forward to meeting you in Chilbo!

In Attendance: Fleep Tuque, Kristine Kristan, Josain Zsun, Lila Roecastle, Corcosman Voom, MS Hawker, Lizzette Zenovka, Alleara Snoodle, Tomkin Euler, Salty Saenz, Maggie Larimore, Gem Blue, MS Hawker, Rodolfo Mirabella

New Committee Chairs Nominated & Needed

We have a number of folks who volunteered to chair some important community functions, but  through one thing or another they have less time to spend on Chilbo projects.  Particularly the Activities & Events, Commercial, and Education chairs are open.  Kristine Kristan nominated MS Hawker and Eliza Quintet to serve  on the Activities & Events committee, to wide agreement.  Congratulations to MS and Eliza!

Kristine will temporarily take over the duties of Commercial chair for now, but we’d like to find someone to fill this spot since Kristine already has quite a lot on her plate with the Residential chair responsibilities.  Duties of the Commercial chair include:

• Serve as a liaison between Chilbo and the broader commercial sector in Second Life
• Promote and encourage new business development in Chilbo
• Assist new entrepreneurs with setting up a business in Second Life
• Recruit new shopkeepers for the commercial properties in Second Life

Gann McGann has served as Education chair for quite some time and has done a terrific job, but we’re looking for someone to fill this spot.  Duties of the Education chair include:

• Serve as a liaison between Chilbo and the broader educational community in Second Life
• Keeping up with the SLED mailing list to keep aprised of new educational opportunities
• Helping educators find suitable property and move into Chilbo
• Coordinating classes held in Chilbo
• Contributing to the education resources in the community, including the Chilbo Public Library and the repository of tools for teachers

Interested in serving as the Commercial or Education chair of Chilbo?  Send Fleep Tuque a note!

Land Updates

Community member Wainbrave Bernal has a number of exciting projects going on with his work and unfortunately has less time to spend on Chilbo projects.  He’s reduced his tier and the Salamander HQ and Grill will be closing, though Wainbrave’s heart will always be in Chilbo.

Likewise, Sine Rennehan‘s Nature Preserve area in the Mujigae sim has mostly fallen into disuse and will be sold to reduce her tier.  The Nature Preserve is a large, beautiful area and can be parceled according to our needs.  Our first preference is to sell to someone in the community, so if you are interested, please contact Fleep Tuque.

Finally, Cosimo Urbanowicz has picked up a huge parcel in Kuwol and is looking for projects and tier contributions to support the new addition to Chilbo.  Stop by the new property and have a look, and if you know someone looking for land or project space, contact Cosimo to get more information.

Linden Lab’s Community Partnership Program

We had a discussion about the Community Partnership program that Linden Lab announced on their blog recently.  Many were unclear about what the purpose of the program is, how it would work, how it would benefit Chilbo, or even if we would qualify for the program since we own land in 6 sims but don’t own ANY full sim outright.

We decided to table this discussion until everyone has had a chance to read Linden Lab’s guidelines, and a follow up meeting to discuss is scheduled for next Saturday, October 17th at 11AM SLT in the Town Hall.  Please join us if you’d like to participate in this discussion.

Mad Wax Records & Musician Mentoring Program

Kristine Kristan reports that Mad Wax Records is now listed on Indiespectrum.com as a supporter of live music in Second Life.  She will be working on a machinima piece with Alleara Snoodle and others, and hopes Mad Wax can be a destination resource for musicians in Second Life.  They’re just in the planning stages for the video and she’ll need some extras and actors, so if you’d like to be included, let her know.

MS Hawker also has been discussing with Cosimo about instituting a Musician Mentorship program to pair novice performers with more experienced performers to help new musicians on the live music scene in SL.  As most of you know, MS’ Germelhausen coffeeshop and bakery (affectionately known as The Haus)  is one of the hottest social spots in Chilbo, with live performances nearly every day.  If anyone would like to assist with developing the Musician Mentorship program, please let MS know.

Deeding Objects to Group

Cosimo Urbanowicz sent around a notecard suggesting that we deed community objects to the Chilbo group and asked for feedback.  Fleep Tuque advises that if this is to be done, it must be done very carefully since the permissions system in Second Life can get extremely complicated.  Objects should only be deeded to the group if a) you are willing to give up being the owner of the object, once it is deeded you can’t take it back b) EVERY prim, EVERY script, EVERY SINGLE COMPONENT of the object is full permissions – if even one script or one component is NOT full permissions, then that object essentially cannot be modified, transfered, or copied, depending on the settings, which may mean it becomes an “orphan” object that no one can really use.  Fleep agrees there are some use cases where group deeding may be appropriate, such as for sidewalks or other community infrastructure objects that can be replaced if needed, but advises extreme caution for objects that are unique, purchased, or where there are no back up copies.

Following the Town Hall, we took field trips to the Nature Preserve in Mujigae and visited Cosimo’s new land acquisition in Kuwol.

A full chat transcript of the meeting is available in the Chilbo Town Hall.   Next Town Hall meeting is scheduled for November 15, 2009 at 11AM SLT.

In Attendance:  Fleep Tuque, Tara Yeats, Olando7 Decosta, Malburns Writer, Kristine Kristan, Monday Jinx, Rachel Corleone, Corcosman Voom, Skyeranger Pinion, toster Oh, Gem Blue,  Emru Rau, Gann McGann

Welcome ELEVEN New Residents

(HOLY COW and send a friend request!)  Kristine Kristan, Monday Jinx, toster Oh, MS Hawker, Mariya Maruti, Liam Gunes, marque Broadfoot, Nuro Enyo, Farzaneh Eel, Bobkoe Nirvana

Public Safety & Prim Report

Rachel Corleone, Director of Public Safety & Prim Management reports that Chilbo has not been actively griefed in over a year!  Litter has been scant and we have over 20% free prims in Madhupak and 9% free in Chilbo proper.

Arts & Entertainment Report

Corcosman Voom, Chair of Art & Entertaiment, reports that the next museum exhibit in the Chilbo Museum Center will feature works from artist Cecilia Delacroix, when Misprint Thursday‘s “Gossamer Logic” exhibit finishes its run.  Cecilia is also the offical Poet Laureate of Chilbo, and she may be doing a poetry reading in Chilbo soon!  Stay posted, more details to come on both the museum exhibit and the poetry reading.

Fleep sent a quick IM to Ryan Snook about the planned avatar exhibit but hasn’t heard back yet, thinking that will be a good project for the Chilbo Summer Faire in August.

Kristine Kristan is hosting Featured Artist Ronin1 Shippe at the K2 Gallery in Madhupak, stop by and check it out, half of the proceeds of any sales will go to VAI, where Ronin1 volunteers.

Commerce Report

Commerce Chair Tommy Brouwer was absent from the meeting, but there were a few other updates.

Fleep Tuque has opened the Chilbo Novelty Shoppe on the main street (Route 10) in Chilbo.  The shop features a few items created for Chilbo and other miscellaneous things.  Items for sale are also listed on XStreetSL.

Emru Rau is making good progress on the new commercial building on the north side of main street (Route 10), and is looking for folks who want to sell things.  Fleep encourages everyone in Chilbo to contribute something to the new store!  If anyone needs help learning how to package items, set up vendors, or make listings on XStreetSL, just let Fleep know.

Monday Jinx has opened up a new magic shop along Route 10 in the Kuwol sim, Sleightly, Purveyors of All Things Arcane and Mysterioso, stop by to see the latest razzmatazzle offerings!

Corcosman Voom rented the Commercial #1 space on the main street (Route 10) in Chilbo.  He’s selling artworks and images at Corcosmia Gallery, another great place to explore.

Fleep forgot to report that the Germelshausen Coffeehouse & Bakery is now open in the lovely adobe building in Madhupak sim.  MS Hawker and marque Broadfoot are the proprietors, stop by to say hello!

Olando7 Decosta wondered if the flagging world economy is having any impact in SL.  Several residents said certainly is affecting them in RL, Fleep reports that more residents seem to be interested in renting than donating tier, and some who were donating tier had to either reduce or remove their tier donation – all cited RL economic concerns.

SkyeRanger Pinion raised the issue of splitting proceeds of some sales from vendors in Chilbo to support the community, but Fleep responded that she’s not interested in taxing sales in Chilbo.  For now the community’s economy and coffers seem to be doing ok. 

Education Report

Gann McGann has contacted folks down in the Education Village in Madhupak and continues to support educational projects and activities in the community.  There are still homes, offices, and stores available in the Education Village, if anyone has a friend or colleague who is interested, they can check with Gann or use the rental vendor in the Town Hall to see what’s available.

Olando7 Decosta wanted to know if the Connectivism class taught by George Siemens and Stephen Downes would be held again this fall.  Fleep said she thinks so, but doesn’t think she’ll be running/organizing the SL Cohort this year.  If anyone wants to take charge, the Chilbo community can donate space/land to the endeavor.

NonProfits Report

Lizzette Zenovka couldn’t attend the meeting today, but the SL HIV Education & Prevention Center has expanded to a second floor with a lovely balcony!  Stop by to see the new space.

Fleep forgot to report that new resident Bobkoe Nirvana has opened up an office for the Levittown Historical Society & Museum down in Madhupak, right across from the SL HIV Center.  Bobkoe is rather new to SL, but wants to expand the RL presence of the Levittown Historical Society.

Activities & Events Report

Monarchy Republic had RL duties to attend to, but will be scheduling upcoming events.

Rachel Corleone will be sending an announcement soon about an upcoming poetry reading by Chilbo’s Poet Laureate, Cecilia Delacroix.

New Move-In Process for Chilbo Group Land

Fleep reported that all available properties owned by the Chilbo group are now set up with rental boxes to make things easier for everyone.  If you have a friend or know someone who wants to move to Chilbo, all they have to do is pay the rental box and fill out the forms that should be inside each location.  No need to wait on Fleep, just move right in!  A vendor is located inside the Town Hall Annex with a list of available properties.

New Resident Directory on the Web

To help Google better index Chilbo residents and locations, Fleep has been working on a new directory website.  This directory will also be terrific for helping new and old community members find other folks in Chilbo who share common interests!   See the new directory (in progress) at http://chilbo.org/directory – if your listing needs any corrections or is missing relevant tags, let Fleep know.  Fleep would also be very grateful if anyone wants to help with the data entry!

New Land Purchase, Chilbo Sandbox Moving

Fleep reported that the Chilbo Community now owns the large plot in Madhupak formerly owned by SunQueen Ginsberg and the Pastafarian Collective.  SunQueen ended up buying the land she used to rent in Linda sim for her store.

After some discussion, it was decided that the new land was larger and flatter than the old Chilbo sandbox, so the new land will become to the new sandbox for the community.  Fleep will move the tutorials and other things in the old sandbox sometime this week.

Metaverse Week in Review

Malburns Writer and Tara Yeats continue to broadcast their weekly webcast, Metaverse Week in Review,  on Sundays at 12PM SLT.  The show features news, videos, clips, discussions, and live guests, all covering the emerging metaverse (SL and beyond).  Fleep and Corcosman agree, it’s a must see weekly event!  The live chat draws residents from all over the grid, and Mal and Tara do a great job summarizing what’s new in the metaverse from the past week.   Mal reports that they now have increased capacity to do live broadcasts from within SL, so maybe a Chilbo focused show should be in the works?   Mal also offered to run any machinima clips created by Chilbo residents!  Have questions about how that works?  Talk to Malburns Writer or Tara Yeats.

Chilbo Public Library Needs You!

The Chilbo Public Library was created to fill a niche, currently there are no libraries in Second Life that focus specifically on Second Life, the Metaverse, Virtual Worlds, and Web 2.0.  We have the opportunity to create a rich repository of books, newspapers, magazines, research articles, journals, and other resources related to virtual worlds and the emerging metaverse – a service for all the residents of Second Life, and educators and students too!   To contribute to the library, you can either take one of the blank books and customize it yourself (add a picture/cover, rename the object, and edit the script inside with the appropriate URL), or click the sign at the front desk to suggest a URL to have someone else create the book for you.  Chilbo residents can access the suggestions list and help stock the shelves.

SkyeRanger Pinion has a book viewing item that he will donate to the library (coming soon) and he suggested that a single master list of all the library’s holdings be collected and displayed or linked to from the front desk.  Fleep added that to the To Do list.

Fleep suggests that if you add a new book, you might want to link to the book’s listing on http://worldcat.org instead of linking directly to the amazon.com or other commercial site.  Worldcat.org will show readers where they can check out the book at a RL library OR purchase the book.  The site also has reviews and comment fields, so readers can learn more about the book before pursuing a RL copy.

Downstairs, there are collections for “Chilbo Recommends” – add a book if you have a recommendation, “Chilbo Authors” – add a book, journal article, newspaper story, whatever you’ve written!, “Second Life” – add books or other media related specifically to Second Life, “Metaverse, Virtual Worlds, & Web 2.0″ – add books related to those topics, and upstairs is for academic papers, journals, and research related to these topics.  If you have category suggestions, let Fleep know!

Miscellaneous/Other

Gem Blue wants to know who all from Chilbo will be attending the Second Life Community Convention in San Francisco this year (August 13-16).  SLCC is in her hometown, so let her know if you plan to go!

A free Chilbo skateboard is available in the Chilbo Town Hall.  We all used it to skate down to the library.   Feel free to pick one up!  =)

Meeting was adjourned.  Next meeting is scheduled for Saturday, June 13 @ 11AM SLT.

Full transcript is available in the Chilbo Town Hall.

In attendance: Fleep Tuque, Ryan Snook, Alleara Snoodle, Rachel Corleone, Lizette Zenovka, Corcosman Voom, Gann McGann, Margarette Fouroux, Tara Yeats, Skyeranger Pinion, Olando7 Decosta, Emru Rau, Tommy Brouwer, Valentino Tendaze, Gem Blue, Ra Deemster, and Jeff Kurka

New attendees: Johnfx Falta, Andabata Mandelbrot, Zil Lutrova, Rubaiyat Shatner, Celestiall Nightfire, Vrider Dancer, Violetta LeShelle

Welcome new members!

Please send a friend request and introduce yourself to some of Chilbo’s newest residents:  Johnfx Falta, Andabata Mandelbrot, Zil Lutrova, Rubaiyat Shatner, Celestiall Nightfire, Vrider Dancer, Violetta LeShelle, Peter Rojyo, Annie Pond, and Bud Budan.  (Whew, lots of new folks!)

Great Twitter Experiment

The Twitter experiment continues with much success, many folks are now using the Chilbo Public Twitter stations to report on news from around the sim.  To use, it’s very simple!  Just type “/285 <your message>” when you’re near a Twitter station in Chilbo, and your message gets automatically posted to the Chilbo Road Press and to the Chilbo Twitter account!  If you want a station installed near your location, please let Fleep know and she’ll set one up for you.

New Resident Welcome – Celestiall Nightfire

Please welcome Celestiall Nightfire, who recently won an auction on a plot down in Madhupak, just south of the laboratories.  Celestiall already has a gorgeous home up and is interested in learning more about OpenSim and other projects in the community.

Education Village Officially Opens

Education chair Gann McGann is now ready to open up the newly revamped Education Village in the south of Madhupak (replaces the Connectivism Village/old fair grounds).  The intent is to cluster people and projects involved in education to help folks get to know each other better and collaborate where possible.  Homes, offices, and project space is available, please contact Gann McGann for  more info or complete the Chilbo Land Use Application if you’ve found  spot you want!

Chilbo Has a Bot!  Meet Chilbo Sweetwater

If you’ve visited the Town Hall Plaza lately, you might have noticed our town mascot, Chilbo Sweetwater, hopping around waving a Chilbo flag.   (Thanks for the flag Tara!)   Fleep is attempting to learn more about how bots work and invites anyone who is interested in playing with the bot to let her know.  We have a first test use-case planned – an exhibit of Ryan Snook‘s amazing avatar work!    Douglas Story will be working with Ryan to coordinate an exhibit planned for the future (spring?  summer?) and resident Wainbrave Bernal is interested in teaming up with the group to do some sort of cryptid-zoology hunt.  What’s that?  Ask Wainbrave for more info!  It will tie in with the opening of his new Lab & Grill down in the Education Village.

Chilbo OpenSim Project

Fleep Tuque and several other residents are interested in learning more about the OpenSim software and emerging grids.  There is a workshop/class being offered about OpenSim on January 22nd, anyone who is interested in OpenSim is invited to attend!  Rubaiyat Shatner already has an OpenSim installation going with Ars Virtua, and you can fill out an application to check out their sim.  More info to come on the Chilbo OpenSim initiative as we get this ball rolling…

Chilbo Expands to Noru Sim

Residents Olando7 Decosta and Violetta LeShelle have recently purchased a large plot of land on the north end of the Noru sim – two sims north of Chilbo!   This effectively expands the borders of the Chilbo Community by quite a lot!  Congrats to Olando and Violetta, we’ll all look forward to visiting your new space when it’s ready.

SL HIV Education & Prevention Center Continues to Draw Traffic

Resident Lizzette Zenovka reports that the SL HIV Center continues to draw good traffic down in the Madhupak sim.  She’s also continuing to work on her recent expansion into other sims to help spread the word and good public health information about HIV prevention to Second Life residents.  Great job Liz!

Chilbo Community Home Opens

Resident Alleara Snoodle reports on the creation of the new Chilbo Community Home.  This new residence will be available for any member of the Chilbo group to set their home location, and is envisioned to be a great place for new residents to start out in Chilbo until they decide where to settle longer-term.  In addition, folks who have claimed a newbie home but seem to log in rarely will be offered the opportunity to relocate their home location to the new Community Home so they can continue to have a Chilbo home base.  Alleara will be organizing a party to deck the place out and decorate, so stay tuned!

The Crash House Jazz/Indie/Live Music Venue To Open in Chilbo

New resident Johnfx Falta is bringing live music to Chilbo!  He’s been searching for a good place to locate his new music venture, and after searching Second Life for a new home, he discovered Chilbo and felt like it had a good vibe for the kinds of music he hopes to bring to SL residents.  The Crash House will feature an eclectic mix of modern jazz, latin, bossa nova, DJs, vocals, pop, folk, and more!  John hopes it will become a comfortable place for musicians to hang out, noodle around, and for Second Life residents to hear great tunes.  Welcome to Chilbo, John!  Looking forward to the opening!

Policy Question:  Height Zoning Regulations?

Neighbor Peter Rojyo brought up the topic of regulating the height of buildings in the community, and a brief discussion was held.  There seemed to be a general consensus that two stories fit well into the community aesthetic, but taller buildings might need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.  This topic was tabled for more discussion at the next Town Hall, if anyone has thoughts or concerns, we hope to hear them at the next meeting!

New Art Gallery Comes to Chilbo – Louisiana Style!

Resident Margarette Fouroux recently expanded her project space on the west side of Chilbo and has opened a new art gallery and studio featuring artists from Louisiana and the surrounding area.   Artistes de la Louisiane dans Chilbo! is now open to the public, the current exhibit features the work of by Dan Johnston from Covington, LA.  Please stop by to visit and congratulations to Margarette on the opening!

…

Following a visit to the new locations, the meeting was adjourned at 12:30PM SLT.  Full transcript of the meeting is available in the Chilbo Town Hall.

Next Town Hall meeting:  Saturday, February 14th at 11AM SLT

Public Notices

SkyeRanger Kiosk: News and Info

After a long hiatus, I have resumed development of SkyeRanger Kiosk
which is located in Chilbo Community Park, a short distance south of
the Town Hall.  The kiosk is a liaison between my own project and the
various projects of the participants of Chilbo Community.

SkyeRanger Kiosk:  http://slurl.com/secondlife/Chilbo/106/102/114

Help Wanted

Chilbo Road Press Seeks Reporters and Editor-In-Chief

The Chilbo Community seeks an Editor-In-Chief and reporters to write stories about changes to the Chilbo Community, news and events, profiles of residents, and more.

Skills Needed:   Ability to make posts on a blog, or willing to learn how.   Ability to take snapshots in SL and upload them to Flickr, or willing to learn how.   Excellent written communication skills, good English grammar.

Compensation:  Reporters – $300L per accepted story story   Editor-In-Chief -  Complimentary room and board in the Chilbo community (within reasonable prim limits)

To Apply:  Send an email to Fleep Tuque at fleep.tuque at Gmail to indicate your interest, any relevant experience, and headlines for 3 potential stories you might write.

Real Estate

Tara Park Rentals

Selection of cottages in wooded settings and skyboxes for  privacy, located on west side of the Chilbo community.

Price/Prims:  L$350 / 100 prims

Location:http://slurl.com/secondlife/Mangyeong/133/207/130

Education Village in Chilbo

Selection of small and large spaces available for classrooms, faculty offices, or education related projects.  Village is centered around a large sandbox for building and/or working with students.

Price/Prims:  Negotiable, open only to Chilbo residents, contact Gann McGann for more info.

Location:http://slurl.com/secondlife/Madhupak/26/83/65

Chilbo Commercial Space #1

Commercially zoned space in prime location available for small shop.   Located on Route 10, across from La Bella Dam and Lunicima Clothing Store.

Price/Prims:  Negotiable, open only to Chilbo residents, contact Tommy Brouwer for more info.

Location:http://slurl.com/secondlife/Chilbo/52/142/120

Chilbo Road Press Classifieds Policy

Residents of the Chilbo Community can submit notices by adding a notecard to the Classifieds board in the Chilbo Town Hall.   If desired, full permissions images accompanying the notice should be embedded into the notecard and released for use in the Chilbo Road Press.

Earlier this year Fleep asked me to take over curating the Chilbo Museum. Having no idea what that meant, I said “Okay” then realized I had to learn how to find artists to exhibit at the Museum and learn how to promote the exhibits. I called on a couple of old acquaintances, Carl Metropolitan and Scarp Godenot, for the first two exhibits.

Currently Scarp Godenot’s Flower Worlds is on exhibit through December 28, 2008. During the month of November, aside from Chilbo and Chilbo Connect members, there were over 130 visitors to Chilbo Museum. I have no idea if that is a “good” number, but getting some exposure for Chilbo seems a good thing to me. Scarp reported that he has had some sales from the exhibit, so there has been a bit of benefit for him also.

On December 6, Scarp held a workshop on creating atistic images using a flatbed scanner, the technique he uses for the images in the current exhibit.

The turnout was fairly good and Fleep blew the crowd away by producing a scanned image and uploading it as the workshop was in progress.  She has promised a future blog post on her artistic adventure, so  we will look forward to that.

For the future, I anticipate the next exhibit will be by Misprint Thursday and open some time in January. After that, the calendar is open. If you or someone you know would be interested in exhibiting at Chilbo Museum, please feel free to contact me. I am open to any suggestions, but these are what I would consider “bonus” points:

1. A Chilbo or Chilbo Connect Group member

2. Little or no previous experience exhibiting in Second Life

I did have one person contact me and I thought I had written her name down correctly, Odessa Oliphone. But when I went to Search for her later, no Odessa. Odessa, if you are out there reading this, please don’t think too poorly of me, get in touch and let’s take a look at what you would like to exhibit.

- Corcosman Voom

Gann McGann gives seminar to students in Chilbo office (Madhupak)

Chilbo resident Gann McGann was quoted in the UK’s TimesOnline, discussing the educational potential of virtual world platforms like Second Life:

Mark Childs, who is doing a PhD on the effects of using programs such as Second Life for learning at Warwick University, says the real advantage is that it is a 3D environment: “You can recreate scenes from ancient life – such as a theatre – and students can get an idea of what it might have been like to be there.”

Then a few weeks later was a featured speaker at the UKCLE seminar on simulation learning where he created a great resource for educators looking to explore Second Life for the first time.

Congrats to Gann, and this is what happens when you get too far behind on your feed reader – you miss great stuff that Chilbo residents are doing!

Following the end of the very successful Chilbo Summer Fair, we said goodbye to the Ferris Wheel and fabulous rides, artworks, and projects and made way for a new three month project in Chilbo.

Connectivism Village in Chilbo

The Main Gate of the Connectivism Village down in the south Madhupak area of Chilbo.

This month marks the start of the Connectivism & Connective Knowledge course, a Massively Online Open Course.  From the course info:

Connectivism and Connective Knowledge is a twelve week course that will explore the concepts of connectivism and connective knowledge and explore their application as a framework for theories of teaching and learning. It will outline a connectivist understanding of educational systems of the future. George Siemens (SL: Whatever Russel) and Stephen Downes – the two leading figures on connectivism and connective knowledge – will co-facilitate this innovative and timely course. The course will run from September 7, 2008 to November 29, 2008 and will be fully delivered online.

Over 2000 participants from around the world have signed on to take part, and several members of the Chilbo community are fellow students, including Gann McGann,  Olando7 Decosta, Samuel Sputnik, Sine Rennahan, Tara Yeats, and Wainbrave Bernal.  The Chilbo Community is hosting the Second Life cohort of the class, and Cosimo Urbanowicz has also joined some of the early discussions and helped with the construction of the Connectivism Village down in Madhupak.

SL Cohort Wiki: http://chilbo.wikispaces.com/Connectivism+Course+in+Chilbo
SL Cohort Googlegroup: http://groups.google.com/group/connectivismSL
SL Cohort Tag: CCK08SL

Second Life Cohort Weekly Meeting Times:
Tuesdays at 11AM SLT (-7GMT)
Thursdays at 6PM SLT (-7GMT)
Sundays at 5PM SLT (-7GMT)

Purpose of the Connectivism Village

Initially, the impulse was simply to see if other students in the course who also had Second Life accounts were interested in meeting weekly in-world to discuss the Connectivism course.  Though there are many communications tools used as part of the course structure, I’ve begun to feel I haven’t really “met” someone until I’ve “seen” them – even if that meeting and seeing takes place in avatar form.  Psychologically, it seems as if I don’t feel the same level of engagement with another person through their blogs, tweets, or discussion board posts unless I’ve “met” them first, and I was interested in meeting other students in the class.

Thursday is ladies night?  Members of the Connectivism course discuss the first week in Chilbo’s Shrubbery Amphitheatre.

But as I began to read more about Connectivism, I started to think that it might contain concepts that could be better visualized in 3D, and for SL building, the Second Life cohort would need land and prims.  After talking with folks in the community, we cleared up the Fairgrounds area and made room for a temporary Connectivism Village project that would last three months and house members of the course who needed a home base in Second Life.

Small mini-homes and offices are available for members of the Second Life Cohort of the Connectivism course for the duration of the class time.  Some students are interested in finding roomates!

The Fairgrounds area is also large enough to host some central facilities and resources for the course, to help make sense of the plethora of web based feeds, tools, readings, and course media.  The Connectivism Second Life Cohort Office will simplify the process of folks joining the cohort, and the Connectivism Reading Room contains all of the assigned weekly readings and some introductory materials for the course.

The Connectivism Reading Room can help students visualize course readings and discussion archives, as well as provide a place to discuss readings ad hoc through the week.

The Connectivism Course Tools Sundae Shop is a whimsical take on the somewhat overwhelming nature of the course structure.  With several websites, communication mediums, RSS feeds, and course emails, Moodle forums, Facebook, and on and on, it’s a little rough trying to figure out which tools will work for your particular needs.  The Sundae Shop is a metaphor for taking the flavors you like and sampling some of the others, not putting every choice on the sundae!

The “Menu” of various course tools in the Connectivism Sundae Shop.

Beyond the few buildings near the plaza, however, I think it will be the Connectivism Sandbox that will hold the most interesting content of the course.  Here we can play with models, particles, sets, artwork, media.. whatever strikes our fancy as we play with the concepts of the course and learn more about Connectivism.  For those who are new to building in Second Life, visit the Ivory Tower of Primitives for a walk through, self-paced building tutorial.  The Ivory Tower is a cultural institution of Second Life and shouldn’t be missed even if you’ve learned on your own!

An overhead view of the Connectivism Village in the Chilbo Community (Madhupak sim).

I look forward to seeing how the Second Life cohort of the course progresses, and I encourage anyone from Chilbo to participate or check it out!   If you have time to wander down, please say hi to any students you see too!   They are members of the Chilbo Community Building Project group and have the group tag “Chilbo Connect!”   ~  Fleep