Second Life

From CollabWiki

Second Life is an online social networking site. We will meet as a class in Second Life on (insert date and time). Before this class meeting it is important to get familiar with Second Life and how to navigate the space. So please follow the directions below.

The first step is to download the software and install it on your computer:

• SL is a free download and is free to join.

• You will need to create an avatar. Choose your name carefully, as it will be permanent. Everything else about your appearance and identity will be alterable.

https://join.secondlife.com/?lang=en-US

• SL requires decent bandwidth and a decent computer -- for example, it does not run optimally on the Mac IBook G4 laptop or the HP Pavilion dv 1000 laptop, but it is a perfect fit with the desktop IMac (Intel), the last generation Dell desktops and the Macbook Pro laptop. Please locate an appropriate computer through which you can have regular SL access. If you are in NYC, you can use the New School computer labs at 55 West 13th Street. SL is not installed on the computers, but you are permitted to download it and do a temporary install. Make sure you are using a computer with an active internal mic, or bring your own. You must bring your own headphones (the lab assistants will not provide them).

Finally, familiarize yourself with basic mobility and communication. Some particular things to pay attention to:

• navigating (looking at things, zooming in/out, orbiting around things)

Try this: -Press and hold the Alt key. Your cursor will become a magnifying glass.
-Point at any object, then click and hold the left mouse button. Your view will center on the object.
-Roll the mouse forward and back while holding down the left mouse button to zoom in and out.
-Roll the mouse left and right to look behind and around. (going all the way around an object is called "orbiting")
-Here's the tricky one: hold Alt *and* Ctrl, and roll the mouse, to look above and below!
-To bring the camera back to normal, hit Esc a couple times, or just start walking.

• typed chat

• Instant Messaging (IM)

• having others' IM's sent to your email when you're offline

• friending people

- If in the same place as someone: right-click or cmd+click on them > Add Friend, or
- If searching for a particular name: Search > (search for name) > find name in search results > Profile > Add Friend

• creating landmarks and locating them in your inventory

- World > Landmark This Place (landmark goes into inventory: click the Inventory button on the right panel (suitcase icon) or go to Me > My Inventory then Landmarks)

• walking / flying / teleporting

- flying: Page Up and Page Down
- accepting a teleport: to accept a teleport, just click Accept when someone sends you one and you get the notification
- teleporting someone else: to teleport someone else to where you are, just find them in your Friends list (Communicate > My Friends, or click the people icon in the right panel, then My Friends), then click the Teleport button; alternatively, if you're IM-ing (instant messaging with someone, the Teleport button will also display in the IM window)

• offering objects (landmarks, other objects) to other avatars

- Go to your Inventory (Me > My Inventory or suitcase icon), find the object (you can also use the search field to type part of the object's name), then drag it directly onto the person you want to give it to, or if you're talking to them in an IM window, you can also drag it to the IM window, or if you search for them and bring up their profile, you can drag it into their profile

• activating/deactivating ambient sounds, soundtracks and streaming media

- Me > Preferences > Sound & Media -- make sure the Sound Effects, Media and Voice Chat volumes are turned up
- Me>Preferences>General -- where it says "I want to access content rated" - choose "General and Moderate" (this seems to affect sound effects in the most recent SL viewers)
- (old version/before SL viewer v.2): Edit > Preferences > Audio & Video - turn up Sounds

• joining and activating/de-activating groups

- Sometimes joining a group and displaying that label is necessary to go to an event being held by that group. It's helpful to know how to turn your group labels on and off
- try joining "Art and Design Educators"
- Communicate > My Groups (or in the old version Edit > Groups) > click the "+" sign (Join Group) > the Find window will display > click on the Groups tab > search for "Art and Design Educators" > it will display in the search results > click on the Profile button > the group's profile will display on the right panel > click Join Now
- This will activate the "Art and Design Educators" label above your head (probably will say "Creative Arts Tutor" or something like that)
- To de-activate that label so that no label is displaying, go to your Groups (Communicate >My Groups) and in the Groups list, select "none" then click the checkbox at the bottom of the window (or in the old version: Edit > Groups then the Groups tab, click "none" then click "Activate")
- To activate a label: Go to Groups (Communicate > My Groups) and click on the group name, then click the checkbox at the bottom of the window (old version: Edit > Groups then the Groups tab, click the group name then click "Activate")

• voice communication**

• • Mastering voice chat is crucial. Below are important things to note:

1) Make sure you have headphones on; otherwise, you create a terrible echo.

2) Make sure you are in quiet area.

3) When you are not talking, deactivate (unclick) the talk button so that you are not channeling all of your ambient noise into the SL soundscape. This is particularly important if you live in a noisy neighborhood or if you want to make off the record remarks to other people in your real world space!

4) Before we have our meetings test your voice chat feature. Sometimes voice chat settings mysteriously change upon login. SL voice chat settings are located at Edit/Preferences/Voice Chat. To set up, select the following check-boxes: 1) enable voice chat, 2) hear voice chat from camera position, and if you're using the old viewer (previous to SL viewer v. 2) - the following will also apply: use push-to-talk in toggle mode. Finally, make sure you click Apply before closing the window.

If you are having trouble with voice chat: 1) click the button Device Settings and make sure your mic (especially if it is an external mic) is activated, 2) click the button Voice Chat Setup and follow the steps, 3) sign off and back onto SL (sometimes settings will only take hold after doing so), 4) visit Help Island and look for a mentor to troubleshoot with you, 5) email or IM the instructors or other students in our groups (see below) to make an SL appointment to troubleshoot.

When you have created your avatar and have gotten a little oriented, please do the following asap (this will be very important for maintaining proper communications):

- IM Josephine Junot, which is the avatar for Josephine Dorado, introduce yourself by providing your real name and which class you're in, and send a friendship offer