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Eloise Pasteur

Second Life offers healing, therapeutic options for users - 0 views

  • poured out my heart from a place of loneliness and grief. Click click went the computer keys, like the staccato beat of my heart. Clack clack went their replies, their empathy and their own tales of triumph and woe. Via my avatar - the persona I'd created to engage here - I was participating in an "anxiety support group" in the free, virtual world of Second Life.
  • As I write those words, I can hear the scoffing. Pathetic! Escapist! Are you addicted to computer games? Do you have no friends? Second Life? That place is just about weird sex fantasies!
  • No wonder analysts at Gartner, a leading technology research company, predict that three years from now 8 in 10 Internet users will work or play in virtual spaces.
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  • more attention to elaborate hairdos than Cher in her heyday
  • It has, in short, all the trauma and pain of real life, and some cautions are in order when it comes to seeking psychological support.
  • But maybe because it's a dream realm, hopefulness abounds. Nowhere is that truer than in Second Life's support groups, which help people cope with everything from cancer, depression, bipolar disorder and autism, to caretaker stress. There are more than 70 such groups, according to Second Life's Health Support Coalition. Most are secular. While a few groups are facilitated by associations such as the American Cancer Society, peers run most.
  • As expressed on the Web site, www.supportforhealing.com, associated with Second Life's Support for Healing Island, "we are NOT and never will replace the help of professionals ... but purely hold a safe place for people to come when they need a shoulder."
  • A year ago, before I had explored Second Life, I would have laughed at the idea of virtual shoulders. How can a person possibly be "real" via an avatar anyway - much less have a meaningful conversation with a puppy dog, barmaid, elf, or wilder avatar appearance such as a blob or a tree? It's hard enough to trust someone in real life, much less "second life." Then again, what better place to connect our yearning selves with other yearning selves than in a space of mutual creation - a place where those very selves can be one's unconscious made manifest? Indeed, avatar, in its original Sanskrit, refers to the descent of the soul in human form. Click, clack: When I rose from my hourlong anxiety group meeting, I felt seen and heard in the deepest part of me - more so, in fact, than in some "real life" interactions, where we often put up fronts.
  • The anonymity of Second Life can make all the difference in opening up to share within a support group. Somewhere in small-town America, a wife and mother of about 40 - she could be your neighbor or relative - suffers from serious depression. She loves animals, so within Second Life, as Fionella Flanagan, she's a big gray dog with a shaggy white mane. She attends the depression support group. Why does she do it? "I don't have to worry about what I say in the group coming back to bite me in my home town."
  • She also suffers from fibromyalgia, one of those crippling, invisible diseases that some doctors say is "all in your head." In Second Life, Fionella doesn't "have to overcome real life prejudice when I say I'm sick. There's none of that, 'but you look so good' junk."
  • When anxiety support group avatars were asked whether they were more honest as avatars than in real life, a wild-haired blonde, Galvana Gustafson (in real life an American, dancer and bassoonist with a master's degree in psychotherapy), put it this way: "My avatar is more honest than myself because the rejection won't hurt as much."
  • "All of Second Life is my support group," she reported.
  • Morgana later discovered the Support for Healing Island "because I was going through a major relapse with my bipolar and needed help from people who understood. I personally like to be in groups that are survivors, sufferers, and caretakers and loved ones, supporting one another. The best help and advice I have ever gotten are from people who have experienced firsthand."
  • People with autism or Asperger's especially seem to appreciate Second Life.
  • Researchers of autism use Second Life as a laboratory and tool. At the in-world SL-Labs and Teaching and Research facility, at the University of Derby in England, Simon Bignell, a lecturer in psychology, studies how Second Life can "enhance first life social-communication skills in people" with autistic spectrum disorders. The Center for Brain Health at the University of Texas, Dallas, offers a therapy in Second Life for people with Asperger's that helps them practice interviewing for jobs.
  • Second Life's Health Support Coalition (a collaboration between Soj, the avatar Gentle Heron and Carolina Keats, who in real life is a medical librarian) has won a grant from the Annenberg Foundation to create an Ability Commons, for 40-plus smaller health and support groups. "Imagine a paralyzed 23-year-old lying in his family's back bedroom," the coalition wrote, "yearning for contact with age peers in similar situations. Second Life offers people with serious physical and cognitive disabilities opportunities to socialize and get information."
  • opens each meeting with disclaimers: "Please do not let these meetings take the place of professional help," he typed to us.
  • One in-world psychologist, Dr. Craig Kerley from Georgia, who was profiled on CBS's "Early Show," has hung his shingle for "cybertherapy" at $90 per hour. This work, he says, "can be valuable for those who have limited choices in their geographical region, have limited time to drive to regular in-person appointments, have limited mobility, and have limitations in their lifestyle that make traveling to a brick and mortar office difficult."
  • Still, Dr. Peter Yellowlees, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at UC Davis and a specialist in virtual worlds, cautions about therapy in Second Life, even with professionals. He advises using it only as "a potential adjunct to face-to-face therapy," and to "use passwords or other cues in Second Life to make sure you're talking to the right person" - the real therapist, not scammers posing as one.
  • Yellowlees uses Second Life as a teaching tool, not for therapy. His Virtual Hallucinations sim gives "the lived experience of schizophrenia - to hear voices and see visions" so his students (and the rest of us) can "get inside the head, just a bit, of someone who's psychotic." It certainly sparked empathy in me, much more richly than a mere clinical description of the disorder would have done.
  • Empathy: There's that word again, an odd one to associate with impersonal bytes and modems, but the right one. Second Life is a hot, humming thing of wire and light, a "server" - spiritual teachers would like the metaphor - that can carry community and genuine human sympathy.
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    Personal anecdote of seeking support in Second Life. It is written by a journalist and addresses a lot of the issues from several sides - including advice from various mental health practitioners and comments from volunteers as well as some real insight into the world of SL and relating it to the public.
healingseason

Holistic Health Alternative Medicine Support for Journalists - 0 views

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    The Center for Healing Arts is a world wide community of healing arts practitioners and those interested in healing and wellness. Members receive six DVDs a year, one every two months, that features a personalized Now, thanks to The Center for Healing Arts you can experience personal encounters with expert holistic health and alternative health practitioners six times a`year`on DVD - all from the comfort and privacy of your home.
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    The Center for Healing Arts is a world wide community of healing arts practitioners and those interested in healing and wellness. Members receive six DVDs a year, one every two months, that features a personalized Now, thanks to The Center for Healing Arts you can experience personal encounters with expert holistic health and alternative health practitioners six times a`year`on DVD - all from the comfort and privacy of your home.
healingseason

New Holistic Health & Alternative Medicine Website Launches. - 0 views

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    Professional Film Director, Producer, Interviewer and Healing Arts Enthusiast Victor Demko has announced the launch of a new Holistic Health website; The Center for Healing Arts (www.TheCenterForHealingArts.com). Healing Arts is for anyone involved in the healing process-for practitioners, students, caregivers, and those having an interest in personal wellness. Subscribers receive six DVD's a year, one every two months, that features a personalized, in-depth encounter with an adept practitioner of one of the healing arts.
Fred Delventhal

7Seas Fishing Game: Welcome! - 0 views

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    The 7Seas Fishing Game is a fun and affordable way to enjoy the great virtual outdoors, by yourself or with friends, while catching various wearable pets and other prizes! Load up some bait and shoot for leveling up your rod, track down those rare fish, show off your catches in a personal aquarium, take part in a fishing contest, or even play games with your newfound finned friends -- it's all possible!
healingseason

Need a New Idea for Getting Together with Holistic Friends? - 0 views

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    The Center for Healing Arts is a world wide community of healing arts practitioners and those interested in healing and wellness. Members receive six DVD healing arts sessions a year, one every two months, that features a personalized, in-depth encounter with an adept practitioner of the healing arts.
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    The Center for Healing Arts is a world wide community of healing arts practitioners and those interested in healing and wellness. Members receive six DVD healing arts sessions a year, one every two months, that features a personalized, in-depth encounter with an adept practitioner of the healing arts.
Lyriq Burroughs

How To Get Rid Of Personal Loan Interest And Penalties? - 0 views

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    You can always contact the lenders to request for a reduced interest rate or to minimize the prepayment penalty. If needed, speak to them politely to get rid of a high prepayment penalty.
Agtha Shan

Get Free Download, Win Giftcard, and Enjoy Summer! - 0 views

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    The Unexplainable Store prepare a FREE download for all of you! You will also get a change to win $20 Gift Card! Come on!
Eloise Pasteur

Finding health information, community online - 0 views

  • On finding support groups in Second Life: The SLHealthy wiki (slhealthy.wetpaint.com) is probably your best and most comprehensive resource for Second Life health support groups, organizations and locations.
  • On "official" Second Life health support groups like those operated by the American Cancer Society versus groups begun by individuals who have suffered from a particular ailment: We have not reviewed the information provided by groups, though in several instances, we've decided not to list information about a group because it's clearly unethical. One example is a pro-ana (or pro-anorexia) group, and another was a for-profit "organization."
  • If you're thinking about joining a group, I suggest you use the same radar you might in the real world: Do you feel comfortable? You should feel perfectly OK about asking questions you have.
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  • I sure understand professionals' concerns about the validity of information provided in peer health support groups, but it's important to understand that they meet anyway, with or without our support and listing. It's caveat emptor, as it is everywhere else - on the Web, in the media, it's all about questioning and evaluating health information. It may be surprising, but from my own observations of people in health support groups, the discussion does get round to whether information is valid or not, surprisingly often. I think we all are coming to realize that the goal has to be empowerment, so that the individual can be a true partner in his or her health care - informed, skeptical, involved, well-supported within the health care and personal communities.
  • With regard to health information from groups, I'd recommend you use what you learn as you might use information from Wikipedia: a great resource with terrific anecdotes that may help you understand more about a health condition, but not necessarily authoritative. And it might not necessarily apply to you, with your own unique health history, medications, and more. It can be a wonderful starting point and provide you with questions you can explore on your own, discuss with health care professionals and check out with a medical librarian. Someone should come up with a Latin corollary for caveat emptor that means "always ask, always learn"!
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    Quick overview of using support groups in Second Life with an analytical slant and a link to SfH's list of groups
Eloise Pasteur

DMCA notices in Second Life: A practical example - Massively - 0 views

  • The basic lessons here seem to be: The regulations governing DMCA notices are heavily in favor of the issuer. That's a matter of US law, and if that bothers you, you should speak with your United States federal representative. Act quickly, if a DMCA notice is filed against you and you wish to contest it. You have no time to dither. If someone files a notice against you, you have only two days to have a complete, correct and satisfactory counter-notification faxed to Linden Lab. Someone may file a DMCA notice against you with complete anonymity as far as you're concerned. While they have to give an identity to Linden Lab, that information is never available to you, unless they chose to pursue additional legal actions above and beyond DMCA notices. Once a DMCA notice has been filed, your identity is held hostage to whatever content has been nominated in the notice. You must divulge your identity to the person who filed the notice, via Linden Lab, in order to have your content returned to you. If your content should be returned to you by Linden Lab, the odds are that not all of it will be returned, and that some of it will be returned in an unusable form, or in a state that requires additional time and cost from you to restore it to original condition. The people utilizing the CopyrightAgent Linden account apparently need some training (or retraining) in the mechanics of the Second Life permissions system. While the Lab may be exempt from liability, it seems improper to carelessly damage or destroy a user's content in the act of restoring it.
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    Description of having a DCMA filed against you and the downside of it, even when you are innocent!
Eloise Pasteur

The Otherland Group - Blog: Second Life at a Cross Roads? - 0 views

  • For many people outside of the "virtual worlds industry" the terms "virtual world" and "Second Life" are still more or less synonyms. This is especially funny, as many people in the industry seem to have written off Second Life because of many disappointing developments in 2007 and the big negative hype in the press.
  • It is not a secret, though, that Linden Lab's management and investors still believe that the Second Life technology will be the (or a least "a") corner stone of the future Web3D. Is this totally unrealistic? And would would Linden Lab have to do, to make this come true if it isn't? Making the platform more stable is a simple answer - and certainly a pre-requesite. But what about other decisions? More control? Or less? More openness? Or a tightly controlled product? And a product for which target groups? Based on what business model?
  • Both will tell you, that Linden Lab indeed has a rather profitable business model, is expecting significant growth and is targeting markets way outside the current user base (actually alienating large groups in the current user base).
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  • Actually - and for some of my readers maybe surprisingly - I think that Linden Lab has a strategy for the coming years and Second Life's place in the Metaverse.
  • In parallel, it is interesting to see, that Linden Lab created a "Department of Public Works" earlier this year, which is responsible for "beautifying Second Life" - after a long long time, where the company just flooded the market with more and more "land" (servers) which quickly were converted into huge trailer parks.
  • I believe, that they are all part of a unified strategy to position Second Life as a standard tool for creating and accessing the future Web 3D as well as to position Linden Lab as one - but not the only - important service provider.
  • The problem for Linden Lab is, that they target so many dfferent audiences. And it is impossible, to offer all of these audiences ONE single product, a product that will make all of them happy.
  • ut, comparing SL to "The West" (as Mitch Kapor did it in his birthday speech), please consider: not all of the important groups and personalities in the American West of the 1840s or so would be well respected citizens in the California of 2008
  • a second important audience, Linden Lab is targeting, too, is the corporate audience, the educational institutions, etc. Despite Linden Lab's propaganda, this is a very small market today (the majority of earnings comes from consumers) but it is growing. This audience needs more "control & security". If Linden Lab wants to succeed in these markets, they have to provide that - not only on seperate estates, because the vast society of Second Life CAN be an interesting aspect for some of these projects, too :) Not all of them work best in a walled garden.
  • For those who want a walled garden, I am sure, that Linden Lab will soon offer some options which go well beyond what is possible on private estates. It will be possible to host closed sub-grids in Linden Lab's data centers in 2009. I am very certain of that.
  • Linden Lab will offer one. Others will do that, too. There will be "adult grids" (they are already being built). There will be grids for many, many sub-cultures and those will certainly not have the same set of rules like Linden Labs SL has (now or then). And there will be corporate "Intraworlds", educational and marketing grids, tightly controlled and partly or fully closed off to the public.
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    Thoughts on the future of Second Life in the development of the 3D metaverse
Teachers Without Borders

Avatars consume as much electricity as Brazilians - 0 views

  • Which, annualized, gives us 1,752 kWh. So an avatar consumes 1,752 kWh per year. By comparison, the average human, on a worldwide basis, consumes 2,436 kWh per year. So there you have it: an avatar consumes a bit less energy than a real person, though they're in the same ballpark. Now, if we limit the comparison to developed countries, where per-capita energy consumption is 7,702 kWh a year, the avatars appear considerably less energy hungry than the humans. But if we look at developing countries, where per-capita consumption is 1,015 kWh, we find that avatars burn through considerably more electricity than people do. More narrowly still, the average citizen of Brazil consumes 1,884 kWh, which, given the fact that my avatar estimate was rough and conservative, means that your average Second Life avatar consumes about as much electricity as your average Brazilian.
Ole C  Brudvik

Teachers Buzz 03 Apr 16 Transcript - NMC-Campus - 0 views

  • one idea for a gateway activity might be a show-and-tell for clothing and avatars, so people see what is possible
  • the personal communication really teaches more than signs and object chat [9:24] CDB Barkley: What do you think will be the impact of the voice capability? Have you tried the beta? [9:25] Ravenelle Zugzwang: so as Teachers leading your students into SL, you can relieve some of the new enviroment anxiety by familiarizing yourself and being there as a connection for you students when they come in? [9:25] Ilene Pratt: Voice is going to be very interesting! It works remarkably well! It'll be like an Elluminate session but you'll really BE there with others!
  • [9:25] CDB Barkley: If you had to share 1 or 2 top places with a colleague new to Sl, where would you send them? [9:26] Lizzy Saintlouis: Edu Island and Info Island [9:26] Ravenelle Zugzwang: I think people will be nicer to one another when they can hear the others intentions through voice inflection, or not but more opt to be polite. Text is really misread often [9:26] Robins Hermano: NMC, NOAA, Terra Incognita [9:26] Ilene Pratt: The International Spaceport Museum is great! [9:26] CDB Barkley: But text is so much more information dense
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  • [9:26] Enjay Ellison: Svarga, Leo Burnett [9:26] CDB Barkley: What is Svarga? [9:26] Enjay Ellison: Better World [9:26] Ravenelle Zugzwang: a fantasy build
  • I'm not quite as familiar with the Dreams Community, but have been excited we were asked to come... can someone tell me more about their connection with education? [9:35] SamBivalent Spork: hmm... one interesting thing about people's conceptions of what is possible in sl - is that sl can be used as some magic pill that will transform the structure of community/learning/teaching [9:35] SamBivalent Spork: but it's more subtle than all that
  • SL stimulates the need to communicate...that is the most basic driver for learning [9:44] CDB Barkley: Much to to with role play... [9:44] CDB Barkley: historical re-enactment [9:45] SamBivalent Spork: it seems now, that one learns by tp'ing around and looking, occasionally chatting [9:45] Robins Hermano: I'll be using it to allow students to interact with things that are otherwise intangible [9:45] CDB Barkley: We have a theater faculty at Northwestern who is planning to teach stage design, and production in SL [9:45] CDB Barkley: We have a new facility that can sintantly change out a theater into about 9 different configurations... so it is a fluid lab
healingseason

Holistic Health Alternative Medicine Support for Journalists - 0 views

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    A new member's based DVD series made by www.TheCenterForHealingArts.com aims to help support holistic health practitioners own need for rejuvenation. Subscribers receive six DVD sessions a year, one every two months, that features a personalized, in-depth encounter with an adept practitioner of one of the healing arts.
Dr. Fridemar Pache

SLEDucating » SecondLife Blogging Script - 0 views

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    SecondLife Blogging Script Writing by admin on Tuesday, 20 of March , 2007 at 1:42 pm Lots of people have been asking for a blogging solution, a way of being able to blog from "in-world" either a text or notecard directly to their personal blog. The following two scripts when placed in a prim will do exactly that. You can change the subject title, the blog address, the email, and choose between blogging the text chat, or a notecard. You call this script "blogger". The basic premise is that the script sends an e-mail, so you need your blog software set up to process an email, which is fairly simple on most blog apps. // This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
    // it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
    // the Free Software Foundation; version 2 of the License.
    //
    // This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
    // but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
    // MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
    // GNU General Public License for more details. // Written by Gypsy Paz
    // Version Beta 0.3 string blog_email;
    string blog_url = "http://blogger.com";
    string blog_msg = "Visit my Blog";
    string blog_subj = "Post from SecondLife";
    integer isadmin;
    integer on = FALSE; string dcapt;
    list dbutt;
    integer dchan;
    key duser = NULL_KEY; integer i; integer dlistener;
    bluemenu(){
    llDialog(duser,dcapt,dbutt,dchan);
    dlistener = llListen(dchan,"",duser,"");
    llSetTimerEvent(60);
    } integer clistener;
    string listenfor; unlisten(){
    llListenRemove(dlistener);
    llListenRemove(clistener);
    listenfor = "";<
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    The reason for copying this freeware is:

     for commenting it inside the diigo annotation system, because the Blog-Page might change , so that this valuable code might be buried inside the blog.

Dr. Fridemar Pache

Technology - Mash into SL - 58 views

Welcome Abbath, I am interested too, how to bridge the two systems. From the Web into SL there is an easy way to make connections. Leave in some wiki or other page, where you have write access, ...

mash technology

James OReilly

ThinkBalm publishes business value study « ThinkBalm: Immersive Internet insi... - 0 views

  • Nearly 30% of survey respondents (19 of 66) said their organization recouped their investment in immersive technologies in less than nine months, once their project(s) launched.
  • The top motivations for investment in immersive technology in 2008 /1Q 2009 were enabling people in disparate locations to spend time together, increased innovation, and cost savings or avoidance.
  • Early implementers are choosing the simplest use cases first. The most common were learning and training (80%, or 53 of 66 respondents focused on this use case) and meetings (76%, or 50 of 66 respondents). Some intend to take on more complex use cases in 2010 or 2011.
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  • Immersive technology won out over a variety of alternatives primarily due to low cost and the increased engagement it delivers. The leading alternatives were Web conferencing and in-person meetings, followed by phone calls.
  • Work-related use of the Immersive Internet is in the early adopter phase. Before it can pass into the early majority phase, practitioners and the technology vendors who serve them must “cross the chasm.” The most common barriers to adoption are target users having inadequate hardware, corporate security restrictions, and getting users interested in the technology.
Eloise Pasteur

Autoplay System upgraded - Eloise's thoughts and fancies - 0 views

  • The autoplay system that I produce has just been upgraded in the light of some feedback. To the existing system I have added two features: Access control - determine who can touch the player and start it running. It defaults to all, but can be set to group only or owner only Pause controls - you can either pause indefinitely or for a fixed time. Either pause can be overridden by an authorised person touching the display
  • Because the old system is copy, no transfer I can only upgrade if you catch me online at a convenient time (i.e. not when I'm teaching or otherwise occupied) and I can come and see your system. Once I've seen that, I will happily replace it with the new system. If you want to buy this new, it is for sale in all the usual places (in my picks), and via XStreetSL and Apez - you can find links at my products index page.
cecilia marie

Remote PC Support: Convenient and Fast - 1 views

I was visiting my grandparents in the country one day. They own a personal computer at their house which they usually use for making important documents. One one of our visits, I used it to check m...

remote pc support

started by cecilia marie on 04 Nov 11 no follow-up yet
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