Category: Events

“Let Me In”: The 3rd Annual International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference

Posted on by Inara Pey

Virtual AbilityFriday September 27th and Saturday September 28th will see the 3rd Annual International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference (IDRAC) take place in Second Life.

The theme of this year’s conference is “Let Me In”, and focuses on different perspectives about access that are of interest to persons with disabilities, and seeks to address issues of inclusion and freedom of participation.

Virtual Ability Island - the hub of Virtual Ability's work in Second Life
Virtual Ability Island – the hub of Virtual Ability’s work in Second Life

Persons with all types of disabilities can be fully functioning community members, given appropriate accessibility accommodations when needed. However, despite increasing legal protections ensuring access and community participation, significant barriers to equal access for persons with disabilities still exist:

  • A person with a disability or chronic health condition may not have access to all the facilities, resources, and communities that persons without these conditions have. A person with a mobility disability may be stymied by a flight of stairs leading to a public building, by public transportation their wheelchair won’t go into, or even by the tall threshold of a shop
  • A person with a visual impairment may be unable to benefit from daily newspapers or printed textbooks
  • A Deaf person may not be able to communicate on the phone, or receive information on radio announcements or at public lectures. Persons with developmental or intellectual disabilities may have difficulty understanding public policies or getting appropriate health care.

Panels of citizens from around the world will provide background as conference participants explore both policy and implementation aspects of providing full accessibility.

Commenting on the upcoming conference, Alice Krueger (Gentle Heron in SL), President of Virtual Ability, Inc., said:

For persons with disabilities, access to information is critical. We must be included in research about the world, and our needs must be considered in policy development. We also should have access to buildings, transportation, and all the other resources used by persons who do not have disabilities. Having access to the full function of communities in which we engage is equally important. “Let me in” is a logical follow-up to last year’s IDRAC conference which focused on communities people with disabilities belong to.

The conference will take place at the Sojourner Auditorium on Virtual Ability Island.

The Sojourner Auditorium, Virtual Ability Island - locations of the 3rd IDRAC
The Sojourner Auditorium, Virtual Ability Island – locations of the 3rd IDRAC

Programme Outline

For full details on the conference programme schedule, including updates and changes, please refer to the IDRAC Presentation Schedule. All times given her are SLT.

Friday September 27th

  • 08:30-09:30 – Keynote Address, Dr. Letitica De León:- Play to the Strengths: Accessible Fun and Learning for All Children
  • 10:00-11:00 – Dr. Sarah Rule: Training Community Based Rehabilitation Personnel in South Africa
  • 11:30-12:30 – Vulcan Viper: Accessibility in Mind
  • 13:00-14:00 – Vicki Robinson:  Teaching Physics to Deaf Students in a 3-D Immersive World
  • 14:30-15:30 – Jennifer Sarrett:  Disability in the Developing World: The Case of Autism in Kerala
  • 16:00-17:00 – Teresa Goddard: Service Animals in the Workplace
  • 17:30-18:30 – International Panel #1: Disability Rights Around the World

Saturday September 28th

  • 06:00-07:00 – Dr. Wisdom Mprah Does Disability Matter? Disability in Sexual and Reproductive Health Policies and Research in Ghana
  • 07:00-08:00 – International Panel #2: Disability Rights Around the World
  • 08:30-10:00 – Keynote Address, Dr. John Stone, The World Report on Disability
  • 10:00-11:00 – Christel Schneider:  European Language Portfolios for Specific Purposes
  • 11:30-12:30 – Dr. Margaret Stineman:  Empowerment Medicine: Engaging Together
  • 13:00-14:00 – International Panel #3: Disability Rights Around the World
  • 14:30-15:30 – Mike Rose: Inclusive Emergency Preparedness, or “I’ll Open My Own Doors” 16:00-17:00 – Dr. Nina Slota: Gender, Community, and Collaboration: The Experiences of Women Living with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy
  • 17:30-18:30 – International Panel #4: Disability Rights Around the World.

Related Links

BURN2 Juried Plots artists announced

Posted on by Inara Pey

logoI’d actually missed this hitting my inbox yesterday, but Ronon Carver posted an update on the BURN2 website announcing the winners of the 2013 Juried Art and Theme Camp plots, and the Plottery winners.

The ten selected winners of the Juried Art and Theme plots represent both seasoned BURN2 artists and face new to the event. Each winner receives either 2048 sq m plot or a 1024 sq m plot as detailed below.

2048 sq m plots:

  • Giovanna Cerise –  The Magic of Objects
  • Loki Eliot – The Sand Fairy
  • Alesha Hax – Cult­Ure Queen
  • Morlita Quan – Sokofa

1024 sq m plots:

  • Juliana Burns – Camp Marshmallow
  • Sarrah Docherty – Cargo Train
  • Caro Fayray – Anomaly
  • Ginger Lorakeet – Inside Art
  • Marianne McCann – Inner Child Camp
  • Catboy Qunhua – Catboy’s Camp of Cuisine, Culture, and Comedy

The list of Plottery winners, each of who received a 512 sq m plot on the BURN2 regions, can be found in the BURN2 blog post.

All winners are required to adhere to the Ten Principals of Burning Man and BURN2, the BURN2 Builder Guidelines, and the Second Life Terms of Service and Community Standards.

Building will commence on September 21st.

Plots Still Available

There are still plots available at BURN2. If you would still like to be a part of the event, plot sizes and prices for the week are as follows:

  • 512 sq m (117 prims): L$3000
  • 1024 sq m (234 prims): L$6000
  • 2048 sq m (468 prims): L$12000
  • 4096 sq m (936 prims): L$24000

If you are interested in participating in this year’s BURN2, which runs from October 19th through to the 27th inclusive, and would like a plot, you can purchase one via the vendor system located in-world at the Burning Man Deep Hole region. Sales will be closing soon.

You can purchase a BURN2 plot directly from the in-world vendor, which also gives the number of available plots of each size
You can purchase a BURN2 plot directly from the in-world vendor, which also gives the number of available plots of each size

The theme for this year’s event is Cargo Cult, in keeping with the theme of Burning Man itself.

About BURN2

BURN2 is an extension of the Burning Man festival and community into the world of Second Life. It is an officially sanctioned Burning Man regional event, and the only virtual world event out of more than 100 real world Regional groups and the only regional event allowed to burn the man.

The BURN2 Team operates events year around, culminating in an annual major festival of community, art and fire in the fall – a virtual echo of Burning Man itself.

Related Links

A murder most foul and an adventure in Ireland

Posted on by Inara Pey

It’s time to kick-off another week of fabulous story-telling in Voice, brought to Second Life by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library SL.

As always, all times SLT, and unless otherwise stated, events will be held on the Seanchai Library’s home on Imagination Island.

Sunday September 8th, 13:30: Tea Time at Baker Street

Caledonia Skytower and Corwyn Allen return to read another installment in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s volume of stories The Return of Sherlock Holmes.

Inspector Hopkins, Holmes and Watson at the murder scene (1904, Stanley Paget, Strand Magazine)

Peter Carey, once the master of the whaler Sea Unicorn, prone to drunkenness and violence, having assaulted not only his wife and daughter but also the vicar in Forest Weald, where the family have settled in his retirement from the sea. Even so, when he is found run-through with a whaling harpoon and pinned to the wall of the outhouse where he spend most of his time, it appears to be a most gruesome and violent death, driven by a hatred beyond anything caused by the man’s behaviour.

The murder has left police inspector Stanley Hopkins mystified. No footprints or any other evidence of force entry and violence have been found at the scene. What’s more, it appears Carey was killed around two o’clock in the morning, yet he was fully dressed as if expecting a visitor. The only clues found are a pouch of seaman’s tobacco – yet Carey was thought to be a non-smoker – and a small notebook.

Reading the notebook, Holmes deduces that writing in it relates to the Canadian Pacific Railway and what appears to be stock exchange information. This, together with the unusual method of murder lead him to agree to return to Forest Weald with Inspector Hopkins, and so he and Dr. Watson embark on The Adventure of Black Peter.

Monday September 9th, 19:00: A Year in Tulfarris

TulferrisFrom the book jacket:

“My boss was wondering if I’d be up for working in Dublin for a year. What would you think of moving to Ireland for a year?”

And so began the adventure, chronicled by his photographs and her written musings, as they explore monuments and meet people (and animals) who will leave an indelible mark on them and their children forever.

Follow them as they trek down livestock-riddled narrow lanes, traipse through fields to standing stones and megalithic tombs, and deal with the delightful and at-times maddening resistance on the Irish to the intrusions of the modern world.

Join Caladonia Skytower as she reads from this very personal and charming tale, laced as it is with a bittersweet twist.

Tuesday September 10th, 19:00: Sci-fi Shorts

With Gyro Muggins.

Wednesday September 11th, 19:00: TBA

Please check the Seanchai Library blog for updates.

Thursday September 5th, More Adventures and Legends

With Shandon Loring.

—–

Please check with the Seanchai Library SL’s blog for updates and for additions or changes to the week’s schedule. The featured charity for September and October is Water for People. Have questions? IM or notecard Caledonia Skytower.

Related Links

The Freedom Project

Posted on by Inara Pey

On Sunday September 1st, the University of Western Australia, in association with Virtual Ability Inc., and the Centre for ME/CFS and Other Invisible Illnesses announced the launch of The Freedom Project: A 2D/3D Art and Film Event.

The Freedom Project FINAL 26 Aug, 2013

This is not a competition per se. Rather this is an opportunity for artists suffering from a disability or chronic illness, or associated with those suffering from either, to demonstrate how virtual life has enabled them to engage in activities and interact with others in ways which may not be possible in the real world.

As such, the organisers are inviting artists and film makers from all over the world who self-identify as having a disability or a chronic illness, to create an artwork or a film/machinima on the theme of ‘Freedom’, showing how virtual worlds have in some way helped them or those around them.

Films and artwork can be submitted any time between the 1st of September 2013 and the 28th of February 2014. Artwork should have no more than 200 prims, and films should be around 3-5 minutes (although no hard limits on film length will be enforced). Artwork will go on display immediately at the UWA Virtual Gallery, and films will be put on the UWA Second Life Blog.

Submissions do not have to be created in isolation or alone; they can be collaborative, so long as the project leader or primary driving force behind the creation is clear. The extent of collaboration and assistance by others should be detailed in the submission note card, and credit given as appropriate.

Submitted pieces will be displayed at the UWA gallery and blog through until the end of the project, when a number will be selected by a panel to appear in a special journal marking the project, which will be made available in print and on the web.

It is hoped that the journal, along with all the artwork, machinima, and stories, will inspire others, and will demonstrate how virtual worlds can be used to help some people who may have had difficulties finding other means of expression to believe in themselves more, or to connect with others. Those artists selected to appear in the journal will each receive a copy, and machinima selections will be represented as stills and a link to their on-line presence. In addition, ten pieces submitted to the project will be selected by the panel to each receive L$10,000.

The Freedom Project organising committee (l-to-r): Gentle Heron, FreeWee Ling, Dianne Elton & Jayjay (Photo: V.Lennoire, courtesy UWA)
The Freedom Project organising committee (l-to-r): Gentle Heron, FreeWee Ling, Dianne Elton & Jayjay (Photo: V.Lennoire, courtesy UWA)

Commenting on the project during the launch on September 1st, Dianne Elton, representing the Centre for ME/CFS and Other Invisible Illnesses said:

The Freedom Art Project invites people with illness and disabilities not only to showcase their art, but to share how SL may perhaps provide opportunities not available to them in real life. In my own case, being housebound, SL has extended my social world exponentially.  I now have many friends right around the world. No longer able to attend art galleries, I was delighted to find I could come to UWA and enjoy stunning innovative art without leaving my bed. My illness has taken away many activities I used to do in real life but as I don’t have to leave my bed, I can do things in SL including attending and facilitating bookclubs. meditation and guided relaxation sessions and I can even go dancing with hubby!

This is how SL gives me “freedom”. Freedom to be active within the limitations of my health. Freedom to interact with others from the confines of my house. I am really looking forward to seeing the artworks produced for this event and to learning how sl might give others “FREEDOM”. 

Key Details for Entering the Project

  • Artwork and film entries should reflect the theme ‘Freedom’, and should attempt to show how the virtual world has helped or how it could help
  • This event is open to all who identify as having a disability or a chronic illness (of any nature)
  • A maximum of 2 entries per artist for the art event with a 200 prim limit per artwork
  • A maximum of 3 entries per artist for film/machinima (preferred length between 3-5 minutes)
  • Entries will be received beginning 1 September 2013 until 28 February 2014. (Note that the earlier work is submitted, the longer it will be on view.)
  • Artists are additional invited to add, in 100-300 words, how the virtual world has assisted them and/or those around them, has helped create community, or has helped them to transcend difficulties and challenges real life has posed. This is an optional aspect of the project, but the organisers hope all artists opting to participate will provide such a description.

Entries should be placed Place the artwork in the receiver (drop box) for the Freedom Project at the UWA Art Challenge platform, along with a completed Artist’s Notecard form.  (No perms required, but copy is appreciated if possible.) If you have problems with the receiver, you may give artwork directly to FreeWee Ling or Jayjay Zifanwe along with the note card.

For the complete set of rules and technical requirements for the project, please refer to the UWA blog post announcing the project.

About Virtual Ability and the Centre for ME/CFS and Other Invisible Illnesses

Virtual Ability

Many disabilities in the real world can be a barrier to entry into the digital as well. People may have difficulties in dealing with the keyboard due to illness or disability; others many be reliant upon voice recognition software, and so on. Virtual Ability, Inc. helps people with these kind of challenges get into and become successful in virtual worlds like Second Life.

From an individual skills assessment undertaken during a unique intake process, Virtual Ability inc., are able to refer clients for help with assistive hardware and software as appropriate, and provide customised training and orientation. Once clients are in-world, Virtual Ability Inc., helps them integrate into the virtual society, and provides an ongoing community of support.  The community offers members information, encouragement, training, companionship, referrals to other online resources and groups, ways to contribute back to the community, and ways to have fun.

The organisation runs a number of in-world centres, which can be read about on their website.

The Centre for ME/CFS and Other Invisible Illnesses

The Centre for ME/CFS and Other Invisible Illnesses provides resources, support and guided relaxation sessions, for people with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Gulf War Syndrome, and other invisible illnesses.  They host general and research discussions once a week on Mondays at 18:00 SLT, and guided relaxation sessions every day, twice a day, at 08:00 and 20:00 SLT, in the Centre to help people manage their illness.  This Centre is open to all, and all are welcome, including anyone with an illness, their families and carers to meet here and help each other. The Centre is located in Curtin University in Second Life.

Related Links

With thanks to Jay Jay Zifanwe.

A kidnapping and fantastical tales

Posted on by Inara Pey

It’s time to kick-off another week of fabulous story-telling in Voice, brought to Second Life by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library SL.

As always, all times SLT, and unless otherwise stated, events will be held on the Seanchai Library’s home on Imagination Island.

Sunday September 1st, 13:30: Tea Time at Baker Street

Caledonia Skytower and Corwyn Allen return to read another installment in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s volume of stories The Return of Sherlock Holmes.

Holmes-returnThere has been a kidnapping in the north of England. The ten-year-old Lord Saltire, son of the Duke of Holdernesse, has vanished from his school, along with one of the masters teaching there. And while no ransom note has been received, the boy’s father has issued rewards of up to £6,000 for information on the whereabouts of his son or for information on his kidnappers.

Dr. Thorneycroft Huxtable, founder and principal of the school, fearing for the boy, seeks out Holmes in London to seek his help in discovering what has happened, and to hopefully locate the young heir.

So Holmes and Watson set off on The Adventure of the Priory School, a case that leads them not only to uncover the tangled reasons behind the young Lord Saltire’s disappearance, but which also uncovers a murder most foul, and leaves one man facing the gallows…

Monday September 2nd, 19:00: Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories

Just SoIn the beginning was the word, and the word was with Rudyard Kipling. Well, it was in 1902, when his Just So tales were first published. Now regarded as some of his best known works, the stories are a set of fantastical pourquoi or origin stories, which started out as little tales to amuse his eldest daughter.

Each of the tales, written for young children, tells of how a particular animal came to look as it does to us today. So in them we learn, for example, How the Camel Got His Hump, How the Armadillo Happened, and perhaps most famously, How the Elephant got his Trunk, among many others.

Join Caladonia Skytower as she reads from these enchanting stories.

Tuesday September 3rd, 19:00: Sci-fi Shorts

Gyro Muggins brings two science-fiction short stories to the Seanchai Library when he reads Kindness and Second Class Citizen.

Wednesday September 4th, 19:00: It’s a Surprise!

With Caledonia Skytower.

Thursday September 5th, 19:00: Mabinogion (5)

From the Timeless Myths website:

Mabinogion“The Mabinogion was a collection of eleven (twelve) tales from the Welsh myths. The tales of the Mabinogion were preserved in two manuscripts, White Book of Rhydderch (c. 1325) and the Red Book of Hergest (c. 1400). Though the Rydderch manuscript was the earlier of the two, the tales of Lludd, Culhwch and Owein survived only in fragments, while the Dream of Rhonabwy was completely lost. Only the Hergest manuscript contained all eleven tales.

“The Mabinogion was first translated into English by Lady Charlotte Guest. It was Lady Charlotte who gave the title of “Mabinogion” to this collection of tales. Also, Lady Charlotte had included a twelfth tale, called Hanes Taliesin (“Tale of Taliesin”), belonging to the Independent group. However, the Hanes Taliesin was not found in the two early manuscripts, so some of the later translations of the Mabinogion do not include the story of Taliesin.

“The tales from the Mabinogion can be divided into three categories. The first four tales belonged to the Four Branches of the Mabinogi (“Pedair Cainc y Mabinogi”). The next four (or five, if including Taliesin) were the Independent tales, two tales of which Arthur appeared in the scene. While the last three tales falls into a category known as the Welsh romances, similar to those of the French romances written by Chretien de Troyes.”

Join Shandon Loring as he continues reading from these ancient tales.

—–

Please check with the Seanchai Library SL’s blog for updates and for additions or changes to the week’s schedule. The featured charity for September and October is Water for People. Have questions? IM or notecard Caledonia Skytower.

Related Links

Get ready for the return of The Blackened Mirror – and be a part of the magic!

Posted on by Inara Pey

Blackened MirrorThe Blackened Mirror is a TV series, created Second Life which mixes film noir, steampunk and classic Lovecraft horror together into a unique blend of storytelling.

More than that, however, the first season of The Blackened Mirror was a mutimedia event, featuring a game that could be enjoyed within Second Life, together with explorations and puzzles to be found on the Internet, with clues on the official website, related web-sites, or on social media streams which would point the way to finding more information about the characters and the plot – and for those following the game within Second Life – to in-world prizes as well!

The show premiered in Second Life in 2012, and was an instant hit. The six-part series introduced Harland Quinn, a hardened PI in the City of Angels, voiced by the silken-tongued Zander Greene (have I mentioned I could sit and listen to Zander read a telephone directory? :)).

In the opening episode, Quinn, something of a cynical enigma, finds himself embarking on a strange case when the mysterious and even more enigmatic Ms Alais Alleyn (Aisling Sinclair) arrives in his office on the wrong side of town, accompanied by the odd form of Mr. Biggins (Mavromichali Szondi)…

Quinn (r) meeting Ms Alleyn and Mr. Biggins
The major characters: Harland Quinn (r) meeting Ms Alleyn and Mr. Biggins

If you’re new to the show, you can catch-up via the website, or via Treet TV or You Tube.

Written by David Abbott, the series also spawned a four-part radio play, again featuring Zander Greene (RL: Scott Simpson) as Harland Quinn, with special guests Juliet Cesario (who also guest-starred in the TV series) and none other than Peter Jurasik (Londo Mollari in Babylon 5 and Sid the Snitch in Hill Street Blues among many other roles), which was complete in itself.

The first season of the SL-based television series ended on something of a cliff-hanger as Quinn, Ms. Alleyn and Biggins stand trapped, only for a mysterious stranger to arrive. However, he may not have the best of intentions at heart…

Well, the good news is, Season 2 of the series is not that far away. Due to air in October, it promises to continue the story of Quinn and his associates, and to include a very special guest (and no, I can’t say who; Saffia has sworn me to secrecy for now!).

Step Up into Show Business

Ever wanted to appear in a TV series? Now’s your chance. The team behind The Blackened Mirror have put out a call for people willing to be extras in the production. An in-world group, Blackened Mirror Extras Green Room, has been created. It has open enrollment for anyone wishing to be a part of the magic, but do please read the blog post notes before you apply.

Related Links