Virtual Environments for Collaborative Visualization and Experimentation.

Saint Paul College

Learning In the Multi User Virtual Environment

Posted Fri, 02/05/2010 - 15:43 by Josh

For an interesting look at the uses of immersive environments in education read: Multi-User Virtual Environments for Teaching and Learning, it gives some details about work done at Harvard University. 

Java Tutorial

Posted Fri, 02/05/2010 - 13:34 by Sue

I've started work on a Java tutorial - worked through the first module and all of the lab work associated with that module.   The tutorial supports PC's better than it does Mac's, so I had to install the JDK, NetBeans, and Firefox on two computers here so I can work on the tutorial without displacing other project members.   

Immersive Education Initiative

Posted Fri, 02/05/2010 - 10:59 by Josh

The Immersive Education Initiative Boston Summit is taking place on April 23-25 2010 at Boston College. Warren will be going to this and asked me to look into it. He'll probably want to bring a couple of us as well. Follow the link to read about what it is.

Project Wonderland Modules

Posted Fri, 02/05/2010 - 09:54 by Josh

Project Wonderland has a nice module warehouse that contains some modules that extend the functionality of the Wonderland environments.  I installed a couple and tested them out.  They seem to work fairly well without crashing Wonderland.

The city block module creates a repeating model of a city block so that a new city block is generated each time you reach the end of the city block model.   

Modern Architecture

Posted Fri, 02/05/2010 - 09:43 by Josh

Designing architecture in 3d environments frees us from the constraints imposed by normal structural requirements and architectural norms.   I like many styles of architecture, but have a fascination with modern architecture.  Here is one video about Micheal Rojkins's PR34 house.  It inspired me to experiment with basic curved shape structures when learning to use the Second Life build tools to develope models in OpenSim.

SPC Model

Posted Mon, 02/01/2010 - 20:57 by Pheej

 The Saint Paul College Building has been updated. The skyline for the for wonderland is in design and will be complete before next week. 

Are we Smart? - 1

Posted Sun, 01/24/2010 - 18:46 by Josh

Are we Smart? [ Part one ]

Most of us have heard of SMART goals, but for the uninitiated I’ll define what they are as I go over some of my thoughts about the nature of objectives or goals. Some PMPs will distinguish between goals and objectives. For our purpose I’ll use them synonymously.  In the following paragraphs I’ll explain what they are and why they are important to a project or any type of endeavor for that matter.

Excavating Our Server Room

Posted Sun, 01/24/2010 - 15:35 by Josh

Over the course of the last decade or so an accumulation of broken equipment, obsolete servers, and various other technology detritus have buried the server room located in Rm 3260 at Saint Paul College. When threading your way through the room one was always stepping over something, or squeezing past something else.

Module Mayhem

Posted Sun, 01/24/2010 - 14:59 by Josh

While Project Wonderland is user friendly in some respects it is still in the "toy" stage of it's life:  It is fun to play with, but it is prone to unpredictable behavior.

Blue Pill - Red Pill

Posted Sun, 01/24/2010 - 13:27 by Josh

 This week Michael setup one of our x2200 ("The Sun Fire X2200 server is the highest performing and most energy efficient 4-way x64 server.") machines with drbl/clonezilla server edition.  Pretty awesome, it allows one to image a room full of computer in about 30 minutes.