Dove Lane

Last week as I was putting together a presentation on virtual worlds for a class, I discovered how my point of view has changed on Second Life. If you look back two years ago, I was skeptical about it and didn’t think it deserved all the hype it was getting. After a year of delving into SL and exploring all the variety it has to offer, I can now say without reservation that it is the best virtual world out there for content creators/builders and people who just like to explore. So far, anyway.

The National Academy of Engineering has declared “enhance virtual worlds” as on of the top challenges of the 21st century. This is getting serious!

After having had several good months to think about and delve into theoretical KM, I had a breakthrough last fall about what KM is and how all the components work together. I decided to put it to the test, so I started looking for a “real” job. It’s interesting to note that despite the efforts of many capable, thoughtful and talented people in my network, for me finding a job came down to finding an open posting.

Bob Hruzek had a great idea for a contest for busy people. See how a story can be told in six words and try your own hand at it!

The spammers have defeated me. I can no longer deal with volume of fake postings hitting this site each day. I’m sorry to make your life an little more challenging by asking you to register. I just hope it will make my own a little easier!

Introducting a new page that pulls some of my recent postings in online communities together in one place. Check it out

After a drought brought on by an overambitious blogging attempt, I’m back.

Does everyone who blogs struggle to meet their publication schedule? I’d love to know!

This morning I reread an article by Don Moyer I first read nearly two years ago called “In Favor of Messing Around.” Moyer’s messing around means working with freedom. Playing with a purpose. Exploring a topic with no rigid goals, no particular agenda, no clients, no deadlines, and no specific deliverables in mind. It can lead to what some educators call an “ah-HA!” moment. To knowledge and innovation. And you own it!

What do the Chinese government, Hezbollah, the Republican Party, and the U.S. Department of Defense have in common? All are using online games as propaganda to recruit sympathizers and/or convey political messages. It’s a new tool for an ancient purpose. And they are succeeding. How else can so-called freedom fighters respond to their so-called oppressors without fear of retaliation? Games are being adapted to achieve ends outside of simple entertainment, and we are just starting to experience the societal consequences.

May 2006 be a year of new beginnings, of hope and of peace for all the world. Think globally, act locally? Here’s my small contribution.

I recently started to tire of The Apprentice. The same thing that made me enjoy it and learn from it originally is the same thing that now makes it a little uninteresting — the formulaic structure of the show. The characters change, but the show’s format is predictable. Yet that very predictability enhances its value for teaching.

Everyone thinks they can communicate. Perhaps this is why in hard times communications budgets are among the first to be cut. Communication programs are perceived to be “nice to haves” not mission-critical. Why aren’t they in the executive suite as members instead of as visitors? I boggle at this shortsighted view, and am going to rant about it.

Ever wonder how Google returns such great results? Simple…it’s with pigeon power! Flocks of bird perform massively parallel pecking to solve complex problems. Google uses only low-cost, off-the-street pigeons for its clusters. (Okay, it’s from 2002, but it’s a great prank!)

Light polution may be propagating, but it produces some amazing images from space . Since the late 80s better and better images have been achieved, including the famous and awe inspiring one by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program’s Operational Linescan System about halfway down the page on this link.

Did you have trouble solving Rubix Cubes? Try this 4-D Magic Cube applet. It’s a geeky thing, but totally mindblowing. I don’t think it’s solvable!