Linden Lab Launches New Program
On November 4 Linden Lab, the creators of Second Life, launched Second Life Enterprise (SL Enterprise). Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon announced the new SL Enterprise at the Enterprise 2.0 Conference in San Francisco.
The conference itself was a demonstration of how the virtual world can be used in business. Two contributors spoke at the conference through Second Life and the conference was broadcast to Second Life and web viewers.
Linden Lab is a company that uses new technology which is changing the way people communicate, interact and learn according to Linden Research, Inc. In 2003, the company launched Second Life, a 3D virtual world. In this virtual world, users are able to interact with people from all over the world through the avatars that they create. SL Enterprise follows this same concept but will be geared toward businesses and organizations who want the advantages of a virtual world workspace.
Every imaginable activity that is done in business is done in the virtual world space, Kingdon said. He said collaboration between co-workers is becoming increasingly expensive. There are high costs associated with traveling in a workforce that is becoming more global, SL Enterprise can help lower these costs, he said.
IBM is one of 14 organizations who are already using SL Enterprise. Neil Katz, an IBM Distinguished Engineer and a member of the IBM Academy for Technology, said IBM held a conference in Second Life that saved the company more than $320,000. “In this day, when it’s just that much harder to get together, we see using this for meetings where it gives a very immersive and interactive experience that you can’t get by other means….” Katz said IBM is running a virtual event every day.
SL Enterprise runs behind the firewall, which means company officials can selectively choose who can access their work spaces. This product is the result of customers, said Kingdon. Employees can now use their real names and administrators can “invite” who they want to have access to their workspace. Businesses can have 800 avatars in their virtual workspace at the same time.
Companies that buy SL Enterprise, buy prepackaged content. There are meeting spaces, conference rooms, 3D collaboration tools for presentations and many more products.
Through SL Enterprise companies can use innovative tools.
Steven Aguiar, an electrical engineer at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC), said the NUWC uses SL Enterprise for scenario simulations as well as classroom learning. Aguiar said vehicles can be replicated in the virtual world and they also use it to simulate tactical missions. “So we’re not replacing all our training content; we’re augmenting it with the Virtual World capacities.”
Not everyone who is introduced to SL Enterprise accepts it right away, said Aguiar. He has given demonstrations of the product multiple times and some people do not understand it. But once people get past that first introduction, they often go from not accepting the technology to being one of its biggest advocates, he said.
Kingdon said, “I think that the virtual world space is incredibly rich, with possibility, because every aspect of a company’s business can be enhanced by the virtual world space, and we’re at the very, very beginning….”
According to a Gartner Study done in May 2008, by 2012 more than 70 percent of organizations will use private Virtual Worlds to support collaboration within their business.

Registered Dietitian Looks to Help WSU Students Improve Their Health

Few people have a clear path through life. There are twists and turns that are impossible to anticipate.
On the edge of campus, in a corner of Rogers Hall, are Washington State University’s (WSU) Dining Administration offices. In one of these offices, sits a woman who has experienced her share of twists and turns.
When Annie J. Roe started out as an undergraduate at the University of Mary in Bismarck, N. D., she planned on going to medical school. Now after earning three degrees, she is not doing what she initially planned, but WSU students can be thankful for that. Roe is the registered dietitian for Washington State University Dining Services.
Roe loves the academic atmosphere at WSU and having the ability to really help students. After deciding to become a dietitian, Roe thought she wanted to work in a clinical setting. But after experiencing that side of the profession for a while, she didn’t feel that she was able to have enough time with patients. “You really only get to see those people for a split second, I could hand them a brochure on sodium and never see them again,” she said.
This is only Roe’s second year here on campus. Yet, she has thrown herself into her work full throttle.
Roe helped Dining Services gain national recognition this year. “She was instrumental in the development of Dining Services’ NACUFS Award-Winning Nutrition Plan,” according to Dining Services’ website, http://dining.wsu.edu/nutrition.aspx. Roe develops content for the myNutrition website and other programs on campus. These programs helped make the submission for this award a success and are available to help students learn more about their health.
Despite the reputation she has gained, Roe is very humble when it comes to discussing her part in expanding services to students. A lot of credit goes toward the marketing students and others who played a large part in receiving the award, she said. Yet, it would be impossible not to notice all the effort she has put into her work.
Her first project at WSU was undertaking the development of the theme, “eat well, live fit, stay active,” which is now the central theme at the heart of all new programs. .
One program that Roe is putting a lot of time into is “Dinner with the Dining Services’ Registered Dietitian.” This is an opportunity for Roe to meet with students and for them to get their questions answered. On designated nights, Roe eats at the dining centers and students are able to join her. “I set my little sign up and students can come and sit with me,” Roe said. “Sometimes they accidentally sit at my table, people have even picked up the sign and moved it, but it gets the conversation going.” Roe really does have a sincere wish to help students. She said that she wants students to know that there is someone here, on campus, if they have questions about nutrition.
Aside from developing educational programs, Roe also teaches at the University of Idaho and at Washington State University. Roe talks enthusiastically about the work she is doing here on campus. However, she said that she there are challenges, especially when it comes to working with students with food allergies. “It is hard to find out every ingredient that goes into a recipe, and when I can’t get answer their questions, that is frustrating,” Roe said.
As she replies to email and digs out some of the results of her work, it is hard to believe that Roe got up this morning way before most WSU students were reaching over to hit snooze. Roe often wakes up at 4 a.m. and can be found till eight or nine at her office. This schedule does not really allow for a lot of spare time. But when she does get a free moment, she loves to be active. If she is not at work, she often can be found running or rollerblading. Anything involving the outdoors is great, she said. Roe also grabs every chance to spend time with her husband.
Roe doesn’t know exactly what she is going to be doing in the future, but she is already setting new goals. She is currently applying to schools to earn her doctorate in philosophy. “It’s the academic side of me. I feel like I don’t know enough.”

This documentary by Frontline was really interesting. I agree that there is a huge blur when it comes to differentiating hard news from soft news. Many people watch shows that are put forward as hard news, but they aren't. The representative for one of the stations said he believes news has broadened its coverage, not lowered its standards. In a sense this is true because more topics are covered. However, because this news is being presented as traditional news and is being put in traditional news outlets it appears standards have lowered.
When you consider whether news and television iare being used as a public service it appears that they are not. Most of the time we are listening to reporters on the TV say their opinions or the opinions of the corporations that back them. This news is informational but it biases or backs already present biases that the viewers have. Part of the documentary said that stations just need a passionate audience, to get a passionate audience you have to fire them up with something, and that is opinions. I agree that it is okay for that type of reporting to have a role, but the lines should be clear. A person watching should be able to see that opinion based journalism is slightly out of the norm. I don't think it should dominate as it currently does.
Only 33% of online bloggers, according to the documentary, want anything to do with journalism. Yet how is it that people can see online bloggers as actual reporters? It is because of the traditional media outlets. The reporting done by traditional media outlets has enabled this. They gradually covered lighter topics and now many stories that have no newsworthiness can be covered by anyone and presented as news.
There was a lot of other points in the video. However, I agree that news should be a public service. This doesn't mean news needs to be limited, it just means standards are kept at a certain level and those who want to produce news solely for profit would be unable to. News and entertainment are great, but as we see from this documentary, they should not be evolving into the same thing.