The guardian at this meeting was Pema Pera and the comments are his.
That morning, just after I had sat down, I saw Kat walking in. I was happy to see her here, in our Play as Being setting, for the first time in a month or so. Like Caledonia, Kat is a core member of the astronomy initiative that we started in Second Life last month, http://www.physics.drexel.edu/mica/. Though we meet each other frequently in MICA, somehow we hadn’t seen each other there for a while either, and so she hadn’t seen my new hair yet.
Pema Pera: Hi Kat, come on in!
Pema Pera: Good seeing you here again!
Kat Lemieux: Good morning!
Kat Lemieux: Thank you!
Pema Pera: How’ve you been?
Kat Lemieux: Fine, thanks
Kat Lemieux: How about you?
Pema Pera: Fine!
Pema Pera: busy
Kat Lemieux: Wow! Hair!!
Pema Pera: ;>)
Pema Pera: but little by little my life is getting a bit under control
Kat Lemieux: Good!
Pema Pera: April was worst
Pema Pera: very happy with all developments
Pema Pera: but really almost too much
Kat Lemieux: Good!
Kat Lemieux: Yeah, moving around can take up so much time!
Pema Pera: not that so much I’m used to that
Pema Pera: but getting MICA and PaB launched at the same time . .
Pema Pera: Play as Being
Kat Lemieux: Yep
Kat Lemieux: Lots going on, but getting lots of things accomplished, too
Pema Pera: but in both cases it is so nice to see so many people pitching in and helping
Pema Pera: that’s SL for you
Kat Lemieux: Definitely!
Pema Pera: wonderful energy
Kat mentioned her latest activities, explorations of various virtual worlds, from OpenSim to Sun’s Wonderland.
Kat Lemieux: I’ve been having some fun, too.
Kat Lemieux: I’m trying out several alternate VWs, as you know
Pema Pera: yes, how is that going?
Pema Pera: must be a lot of work!
Kat Lemieux: Last week I met the guy who started OpenLife Grid
Kat Lemieux: He gave me a very good bit of advice.
Pema Pera: “met” in SL?
Kat Lemieux: There’s a software called Second Inventory, that you can use to backup your SL content, and use it to transfer things you created or have full perms to into other grids
Kat Lemieux: Met in Open Life, actually
Kat Lemieux: I bought a sim there
Kat Lemieux: for testing purposes
Pema Pera: wonderful! And Second Inventory works already?
Kat Lemieux: YEs
Pema Pera: wow
Kat Lemieux: I did buy it, and I’ve been trying it out
Pema Pera: and you can then bring it back into SL too?
Kat Lemieux: So far it has default grids of SL, OpenLife, OSGrid, Central Grid and one other I don’t recall
Kat Lemieux: Yes
Pema Pera: but does that not put a threat to commerce in SL if you can backup and bring things in again, like copybot?
Kat Lemieux: So it’s a true backup system
Kat Lemieux: Well, no, because it respects SL’s permissions
Kat Lemieux: You can only copy things you have full perms for
Kat Lemieux: So I can’t backup my prim hair, for instance
Pema Pera: okay
Pema Pera: I see
Kat Lemieux: I’m thinking now I’m going to have to learn how to make hair
Pema Pera: wow!
Kat Lemieux: I was able to transfer my avatar’s shape and eyes, but not the skin I bought
Pema Pera: it is such an adventure that you are embarking on
Kat Lemieux: Yep
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could actually connect these various worlds!
Pema Pera: I have been following the email betwen you and (Enr)ico
Pema Pera: the one thing we will miss in a new world is the wonderful network of people in SL
Kat Lemieux: If we do get this to work, and assuming the alternate grids are viable, we can open branch museums in the other grids
Kat Lemieux: That’s exactly right
Pema Pera: so if we can have portals
Pema Pera: bridges
Pema Pera: then we have the best of all worlds
Kat Lemieux: That’s something many people are hoping and working toward
Kat Lemieux: There’s a website at http://realxtend.org where they have a viewer and server that works for SL and the other OpenSim grids
Kat Lemieux: Their stated purpose is to help bring the day when we can have many interactive VWs
Kat Lemieux: and move between them freely
Pema Pera: sounds great, all!
Kat Lemieux: The Second Inventory stuff is another piece of the puzzle, of course, since there’s no way to have a shared asset database across multiple worlds, at least not now
Kat Lemieux: The Project Wonderland thing is yet another effort, though
Pema Pera: yes, altogether different
We continued talking about various topics, from the large number of friends we have in SL and the even larger number of pixels we each have on our notebook screens.
Pema Pera: I have just bought a new MacBook Pro
Pema Pera: with a resolution of — are you ready for this –
Pema Pera: 1920×1200 pixels
Pema Pera: lots of real estate,
Pema Pera: now I can see SL even with many screens up!
Kat Lemieux: Very cool!!
Pema Pera: yup
Pema Pera: very very happy with it
Kat Lemieux: I’m considering splurging on a new computer, but not a laptop
Pema Pera: so crisp
Kat Lemieux: I’m trying to decide whether to get a Mac Pro or another iMac
Kat Lemieux: I like the idea of an extendable tower
Pema Pera: why not MacBook Pro?
Pema Pera: ah
Pema Pera: okay
Pema Pera: My life == laptop
Pema Pera: since 1984
Kat Lemieux: And i really like my 20″ iMac, but it’s getting old
Pema Pera: nomadic but w/o a car ;>)
Kat Lemieux: Yes, I’ve always had laptops, too, but not exclusively
Kat Lemieux: In fact, I had one of the first true laptops — TRS-80 Model 100 — in 1983
Kat Lemieux: The first one sold in Hawaii
Pema Pera: I have not used a desktop for fifteen years
Kat Lemieux: Also had my first modem. A blazing 300 baud
Pema Pera: TRS-80 did not have full VT100 screen
Kat Lemieux: No, 40×8 lines
Pema Pera: so I start counting at Data General, my 1984 laptop
Pema Pera: which was VT100 ;>)
Kat Lemieux: But I used it for taking notes when I went back to college to finish my B.A.
Kat Lemieux: Really improved my GPA!
Kat Lemieux: Being able to read my notes was such an improvement!
Pema Pera: I was tempted but decided that I couldn’t use it for my main purpose, code writing — too little code on one screen
Kat Lemieux: True
Kat Lemieux: I had a TRS-80 Model III at home
Kat Lemieux: Then got an Amiga 1000
I looked at the clock and remembered that I had a rather early appointment to meet a few astronomy colleagues.
Pema Pera: talking about code writing
Pema Pera: in five minutes I’ll have to go over to the MICA workshop
Kat Lemieux: ok
Pema Pera: for the subcommittee meeting on simulation school
Pema Pera: you are more than wlecome to join!
Kat Lemieux: OK
Kat Lemieux: Thanks!
Kat Lemieux: I’d like that
Pema Pera: Lagrange will be there
Pema Pera: Peter
Pema Pera: others
Pema Pera: let me send them an email — just a sec
Pema Pera: to remind them
Kat Lemieux: Have you had a chance to see the “cosy corner” there?
Pema Pera: not yet
Pema Pera: will in 5 minutes
Kat Lemieux: OK
Kat Lemieux: I think you’ll like it
Pema Pera: back
Pema Pera: shall we go to the workshop room?
Kat Lemieux: OK
Teleport completed from http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rieul/242/207/76
Pema Pera: wonderful!
Kat Lemieux: Piet will be here in a moment
Kat Lemieux: HI!
Kat Lemieux: Thanks!
Kat Lemieux: Even an espresso machine, since you designated the hosts as baristas
Pema Pera: wow
Kat Lemieux: Help yourself to some breakfast
Kat Lemieux: ;-)
Kat had indeed provided an impressive cozy corner in our usual meeting room. From that point on, we focused on astrophysics.