Applied Simulation First Night

Set up your student server account.

Have a valid, working, accessible email address. Check it frequently, please. At least once a day. Please...for my sanity and yours.

Because half of our classes will meet in Second Life, you will need to download the program, install it, set up an account, and become familiar with it.

Second Life is a free program. It can be downloaded from the Second Life download page.
Setting up an account is free. While it is possible (and they'd certainly like you) to pay for an extended account, you do not need to do so for this class; you will do fine with a regular, free account.
When choosing your avatar, I believe you have all sorts of options. Feel free to go wild. Be human, or animal, or other. Be male or female. It doesn't really matter and it'd be nice if you have some fun with it. (Just be G-rated.)
When naming your avatar, you can choose any first name you'd like, although I think we'll find it easier if you use the first name that we know you by here in class.
Your last name must be from a list of last names that they present you. So..<shrug>..pick one and let it be.
Spend a bit of time customizing yourself, learning the controls, work through the tutorial island. Explore SL a bit.
BE AWARE: Second Life may be a crazy drain on your graphics card and internet connection. If you have a low quality card or a dial up...sorry. Prepare to spend time waiting for things to happen. (There are no books to buy for this class...maybe this is a way to justify a new computer or graphics card!)
If Second Life just won't work for you, let me know and we'll get something set up here in the lab. Sadly, this will mean that even on SL days, you will still have to come to the lab to join us in SL. It is possible that you may have a class before or after Applied Sim. If so, you may come to the lab to take part in SL (bring your headset with you!).
BE AWARE: Second Life is...life. Most of the people on the grid are nice folks. Some are not-so-nice. You may see people, places, things that are naughty and risque. If that sort of thing bothers you, fly/teleport away. We will not be delving into the steamier parts of Second Life, but be aware that they exist.

When you get settled into Second Life, do these steps:

Click the Communicate button at the bottom-left of the screen.
In the new window, click the Add button
In the new new window, click the field next to the Find button and type: Bahaar Babcock
When you see Bahaar Babcock show up in the results field, click it, then click the Select button
This will send a “friend” invitation to me so that I can teleport you around the Grid as needed.

Because Second Life is on a computer and it might go down...we will be using the internet voice-chat program Ventrilo as well.

Ventrilo is free and can be obtained at the Ventrilo download page about 1/2 down under the blue bar labeled "Client."
Get the most current non-beta version for your computer. Install it and get it as set up.
Here's some handy suggestions on configuring Ventrilo:
1. Click the arrow -> next to User Name to open up that screen.
2. Click the New button and type in the name you want to use. Your RL name would be ideal here, so we all know who's talking.
3. Click OK and OK to get out of the User Name area.
4. Click the -> next to Server
5. Under Select, click New and in the new window type Applied Simulation. Click OK
6. In Hostname or IP type the server address: 69.12.74.141
7. In the Port Number, type 4143
8. There's no password or other hoo-haa, so click OK.
9. Back on the main page, click Setup...
10. Click the Voice tab, put a check mark in Use Push-To-Talk Hotkey
11. A few steps down click in the field next to the word Hotkey. It will likely change to say LMouse or some such. While the cursor is there, press the Left Control key. This sets it up so that you won't transmit unless you're holding down the Left Control key on your keyboard. You can actually use any key you wish, but I find LCTRL is good since it's not used in SL.
12. Take note of the Output and Input Device options. You may have to come here a few times to tweak this until Vent is working the way it should on your system.
13. Click the Events tab. Ventrilo will make certain sounds to let you know when people connect, disconnect, and do other things. It's handy..but for our purposes, it's incredibly annoying. So you can open each dropdown box and set it to "Nothing" to spare your sanity.
14. Click OK.
15. You're done configuring Ventrilo (for now, at least).
Check the top of the class website for Ventrilo server/port information. It's not likely to change...but it can. If so, I'll send out an email blast as well.
When setting up your connection info in Vent, please use the name we know you by in class. This makes roll-call easier.
I will host a couple of "get connected" sessions to make sure you have "Vent" up and working.

You will also need a speaker and microphone setup.

I would suggest a headset / microphone arrangement. You can find these in regular or USB form at Best Buy, CompUSA or some such. (There's no book to buy for this class, so maybe that can be a justification for such a purchase!)
If you're coming to the lab for SL days, it will be vital that you spring for a headset / microphone.
If you don't do the headset, try to set your system up so that we don't get feedback issues from your microphone being too close to your speakers. We'd also like to avoid echoes caused by you having your mic transmitting while someone else is talking, thus causing his words to get fed back into the system.
Prepare to have your family look at you oddly as you talk to your computer.
Once you get your headset plugged in and working, you may have to tweak those Input and Output Device settings in Ventrilo to make sure the audio is being routed to your headset.

Work out ways to create your assignments.

As much as possible, electronic documents are the best. However, you will also find yourself making sketches of...things. If you have access to a scanner and can digitize this handiwork, it'll make it easier to show, store, archive. If not, don't worry.
If you have to create a paper of some sort, you will find Word, Notepad, perhaps an HTML document to be very useful.
Knowing how to take, alter, and include scans, screenshots, and photographs into your documents and projects will be quite advantageous.
As mentioned elsewhere, you will do a small bit of "programming / authoring." Flash is the preferred vehicle (as it makes it easier to show off on the web), but other methods are acceptable. (Just check with me beforehand.)

During the weekend I'll be monitoring Ventrilo and Second Life so you can test them. Log on and give it a try. If I'm around and see you (I have lots of yardwork to do), I'll jump on and say Hi.

Once you get it all worked out, send me an email to either damian@romeosquare.com (preferred) or Damian.Hart@ubalt.edu . Please let me know the following information:

Your name.
What you prefer to be called. Nicknames, etc., are fine. One fellow said, “You may call me ‘Sir.’ “ …so I did. It was funny.
What email address you prefer me to send email to.
Your Second Life name.

And finally, on Tuesday at class time, fire up both Vent and SL and we'll meet online and get the show started!