Since RubyConf this year has sold out so rapidly, I was wondering if
there would be interest in setting up a mixed-reality event in Second
Life.
I think it would be really cool if we could be the first developer
conference to be simulcast in Second Life. It would also help with the
problem of folks who wanted to go but can’t.
I spent some time hanging out with some Linden Lab folks at the Lang.Net conference last week, and there’s interest on Linden’s part
in helping to set this up.
I don’t really know my way around Second Life all that well, and I
know that there are some Ruby folk who are already hanging out there -
perhaps we could marshal our forces to make this happen?
Since RubyConf this year has sold out so rapidly, I was wondering if
there would be interest in setting up a mixed-reality event in Second
Life.
I think it would be really cool if we could be the first developer
conference to be simulcast in Second Life. It would also help with the
problem of folks who wanted to go but can’t.
Sort of. I’ve heard about Second Life, but haven’t really studied it.
According to Wikipedia, Second Life tops out on a “private island” at
100 simultaneous users in the server. That means that of the 240
attendees, only 100 could be there (if they wanted) – and that
external people would have even more problems.
If Linden Lab is able to solve this so that we could have potentially
a lot of people observing from Second Life (and if it were possible,
for example, to have “live” video broadcast in that Second Life
region), then it might be really interesting.
Thanks for the pointer to that info, Austin! I’m checking with the
folks at Linden now on that limitation, and I’ll get back to y’all
once I get the goods.
This sounds quite interesting. I’ve been meaning to poke into SL, but
I’m concerned that it may become a massive time sink for me.
Thanks for the pointer to that info, Austin! I’m checking with the
folks at Linden now on that limitation, and I’ll get back to y’all
once I get the goods.
There’s actually already a SL rubyist community that meets every first and
third thursday of the month. I attended this past thursday, and it was
pretty cool.
Excuse my ignorance and uncoolness, but what is Second Life? Is it a
Sims-Online type of thing? Do I need an avatar? Where do I go? Duh?
There’s actually already a SL rubyist community that meets every first
and
third thursday of the month. I attended this past thursday, and it was
pretty cool. I even made a JRuby shirt for it.
Feel free to stop by, we’re interested in having more folks attend, and
there’s a nice big presentation screen and plenty of seating. There’s
even
an in-world IRB extension to play with Ruby while you’re there.
There’s actually already a SL rubyist community that meets every first
and
third thursday of the month. I attended this past thursday, and it was
pretty cool.
Excuse my ignorance and uncoolness, but what is Second Life? Is it a
Sims-Online type of thing? Do I need an avatar? Where do I go? Duh?
–
James B.
“The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance, but the illusion
of knowledge.”
I’ve got a response from the Linden folks. Each region (16 acre chunk
of land) is managed by 1 CPU, and the limit of avatars per region is
on the order of 50-60 (I believe the server limit in Wikipedia is
based on their current 2CPU per server configuration).
However, you can place the conference at the intersection of 4
regions, which can increase capacity up to 200+ in SL. They can rent
us a region at the rate of 3k Lindens per day (which is about $10 USD
on today’s currency). So that works out to a cost of 4 * 10 * 3 days
or $120 to host 200 attendees in SL. I have no problem getting my
company (ObjectSharp) to kick in the funding for the space rental.
We could setup a registration page to limit the attendees in SL to a
capped limit. But that nearly doubles attendence assuming that we can
keep the number of real-life attendees in the SL space to a reasonable
limit.
Since this is rental of space, everything there will be torn down at
the end of the conference. But I think that’s OK for the initial run
of this thing. Perhaps we could also get RubyCentral to buy some land
in SL so that the Ruby community can have a permanent presence in SL?
Well, wouldn’t it just be better to ask the Rubyists of Second Life if
we
can use their space? They have a 4-parcel island already available for
Ruby
meetings and conferences with seating and facilities built and ready to
go.
BTW, there’s also pricin for nonprofits on parcels of land; I believe
the
folks hosting RoSL paid only about $150/parcel, far cheaper than the
$1250
it normally costs.
Charles, can you broker this with the Rubyists of Second Life folks?
Also, can someone try and ping David Black to see if he’s cool with
all this? I’ve tried to reach him via one of his many email addresses
but haven’t gotten a response yet …
I’ve got a response from the Linden folks. Each region (16 acre chunk
of land) is managed by 1 CPU, and the limit of avatars per region is
on the order of 50-60 (I believe the server limit in Wikipedia is
based on their current 2CPU per server configuration).
This sounds really cool … but I have some questions
(1) I’m not sure what people are expecting. Are you expecting attendees
to be interacting with non-attendees during the course of the
conference. Remember that attendees will be fighting over limited
wireless bandwidth and Obie’s posting mentions “hefty bandwidth”
requirements. Given that, I wouldn’t encourage attendees to be on SL.
(2) Wouldn’t a live video webcast plus a conference IRC channel give
much same experience with much lower bandwidth requirements? Plus it
would make it easier for attendees to interact (IRC has always been very
active during the RubyConfs in the past).
As I said, the SL idea sounds cool, but I’m not sure what the
advantages are.
So that works out to a cost of 4 * 10 * 3 days
or $120 to host 200 attendees in SL. I have no problem getting my
company (ObjectSharp) to kick in the funding for the space rental.
Thoughts?
-John
I can’t believe people are paying money for virtual real estate.
So that works out to a cost of 4 * 10 * 3 days
or $120 to host 200 attendees in SL. I have no problem getting my
company (ObjectSharp) to kick in the funding for the space rental.
Thoughts?
-John
I can’t believe people are paying money for virtual real estate.
Regarding the experience, here’s a link to a YouTube video for
VLoggerCon - the conference center that they created in SL is
absolutely stunning.
I think that avatars provide a means for social interaction that isn’t
possible through IM alone. I’m still not sure what this all means at
the moment, but I’m pretty sure we’re witnessing the birth of a new
medium of expression. What it means is anyone’s guess …
Here’s another video by Tao that shows some incredible production
values:
I’m still chatting with folks who have SL experience to figure out
what bandwidth requirements there will be and whether this is even
possible.
I think that if we do go ahead with this that it will have to be in
such a way that we set realistic expectations for folks attending in
SL as well as working within the constraints of the technology.
