SpaceX Falcon 1 gets to orbit

SpaceX Video

SpaceX finally got their rocket to orbit at the fourth attempt. Mind you they got to orbit at about 300km, 3 times as high as Spaceship One/Virgin Galactic.

***Imported from old blog***

Return to Retsmah Crossing!

Between PICNIC08 and the JISC event today it seems like Active Worlds might be making a bit of a comeback - it could certainly give Schools and maybe FE an alternative to SL without the age issues and with a simpler interface and PC requirements.

So I decided to set out and have another go at finding my old home in Alpha World (the main communal world). I failed miserably at the same task about 12 months ago - I new it was in the NE, but Alpha World is about 14000 km by 14000 km! And I knew it was on a train track- the crossing that gives it its name. At first I flew North from the centre looking for where the main drag met the rail road, but to no avail. Eventually I found the new Alpha World map (www.imabot.com/alphamapper/aw/). Zooming around that I finally found something that could be a rail track, TP'd to it and it was, but not mine. I flew and Tp'd along it but it gave out after only a few 100 km - but I did find a sign that mentioned Retsmah. I then found a big rail junction, and checked each rail out of it, looking for stations and TP'in in to check. And then I was there - Retsmah Crossing. And right by it, where I left it ( I built it on Mon 13 Aug 2001 it says) was my first virtual house.




The little pond was there too, and the space cube (an early visualisation experiment). In suitable cyberpunk fashion all the screens were showing snow - "the sky the colour of a TV set tuned to a dead channel" - the URLs pointing to files on converj.com that are long gone - I wonder if they' reappear?



So now I've found it it's probably time to sign up again - or even try and reactivate the old account and build something new and personal on AW before we do something corporate on AW Europe.



Oh, and the grid: 2847N 624E. Make sure I don't forget it again!

***Imported from old blog***

PICNIC 08

Just getting to the end of 2 days at Pre-PICNIC and PICNIC in Amsterdam Unfortunately I've got to head back to the UK tomorrow, but MUST make the whole show next week. Mainly been here courtesy of the Eduverse team - thanks Rob - but been great to get out and see some of the other stuff too. A few random notes:

- The PICNIC club in the old gasometer is great, free wifi, coffee and power
- The QBIC hotel, one step up from a capsule hotel, is great
- Good chat with a Dutch philosopher working in teen second life on daemons as part of the Self City project
- must check our externalism and Hermann's work and externalism
- karlkapp.blogspot.com
- lots of people using unity
- DrDoug Pennell (SL) from Ohio SU doing some stuff on virtual patients and AIML
- Cutter IT Journal
- www.dryesha.com
- 3dexplorer, alatdyne and avalonn.fr
- philip rosedale really shoudl have been a revivalist preacher or the new Cliff Richard
- oh, and the donkey carries GPS and a web cam and is lifelogging its way across Europe guided by children

Now for supper!

***Imported from old blog***