Second Life… creating an online alter ego!

I don’t know if any of your have heard of SecondLife.com?

Second Life is a 3D virtual site where you can emulate another existence in Cyberspace. It is actually built and owned by real residents. So far there are 1,653,270 people from around the world that inhabit this site.

You start by creating an Avatar — or alter ego; then you proceed to explore the new world you are now going to inhabit.

In this “new world” you will experience a whole new life where you will meet people, buy property, explore new business opportunities, go shopping for clothes (believe it or not it is second life’s hottest industry) and many other adventure you can create for yourself with your new friends. You can become a virtual Walter Mitty — the fictional character that always daydreamed about being someone else. Only in this case, you can learn valuable life skills and gain insight through interaction with others.

So go an take a browse http://www.secondlife.com. You can try it out for free for a trial period. Have fun!

TTYL

Laughing Star

My friend Jo Nisbet just published her book: Laughing Star. It is finally available in the US. My copy is on the way.

In her book Jo, recalls the last four years trying to bring up her daughter who has ADHD and all the trials and tribulations around this. Her story is heart wrenching. She experienced great difficulty and practically no support from the system in Britain. She ended up traveling to America where her daughter was sent to a special school in Utah. We hosted her and her daughter in our home giving them support throughout the process. Sending a young girl off to wilderness camp for 2 months is a pretty traumatic experience for the parents. Trying to juggle your daughter in Utah while your other child is in the UK was quite a challenge. I will fill you in once I read the book.

You can read an excerpt right here: http://www.discoveredauthors.co.uk

TTYL

Borat, and some thoughts

We saw the movie Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. The movie was hilarious and we enjoyed it. Of course I couldn’t help but think about Kazakhstan and the image it projected. Obviously we are laughing at Borat and not the Kazaks. It is his character and outrageous behaviour that makes the movie a must see.

I took the time to look-up Kazakhstan on Wikipedia.org and found this

"Kazakhstan has stable relationships with all of its neighbors and is a member of the United Nations, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council and Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). It is an active participant in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's (NATO) Partnership for Peace program. Kazakhstan is also a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization along with Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan established the Eurasian Economic Community in 2000 to re-energize earlier efforts at harmonizing trade tariffs and the creation of a free trade zone under a customs union.

Since independence in 1991, Kazakhstan has pursued what is known as the multidimensional foreign policy (многовекторная внешняя политика), seeking equally good relations with two large neighbors, Russia and China, and the United States and the West generally. The policy has yielded results in the oil and gas sector, where companies from the U.S., Russia, China, and Europe are present at all major fields, and in the multidimensional directions of oil export pipelines out of Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan possesses the Soviet equivalent to the United States' Cape Canaveral, where the Soviet Union launched its version of the space shuttle and the well-known space station Mir. Russia currently leases approximately 6,000 km² (2,300 mi²) of territory enclosing the Baikonur Cosmodrome space launch site in south central Kazakhstan."

Wow!!! this really doesn’t seem like a backward country at all.

TTYL

Comments, tips, knowledge welcome

Hi all

This blog needs your suggestions, comments, experiences and other information provided it's clean and pertinent. Please send your info to webmomonline@gmail.com.

TTYL

Community Service

Are you having trouble getting your community service credits for college? Are you getting lost in the maze of options?

How about starting a hunger awareness club in your school? Get some of your friends together and talk to your teacher. Start a club.

You could raise money for the hungry in Darfur or for the survivors of Katrina or any charity of your choice.

I met a 15 year old girl at a coffee house in my neighborhood that has a foundation that raises world hunger awareness. She hangs out here with her parents who own the venue every Saturday and talks to all the customers about hunger. Last time I was there she was creating a project poster with butterflies and encouraged every customer to color a butterfly for hunger awareness!!!

Now that is a cool way to get your community service credits.

Here are some links to look at:
http://www.unicef.org/

http://www.redcross.org/services/hss/youth/

TTYL

Skype Me!

I am sure most of you have heard of Skype by now. For those of you that haven't Skype is an online tool that allows you to call from computer to computer anywhere in the world. All you need is a mike or better still a web cam.

My daughter calls me from Barcelona a few times a week. With this cool web cam. I have already seen her room, her new earrings and yes...she called me the other day to tell me that she was cutting her hair off...Oh no!!!! I got to witness the whole thing on the web cam. It did look cute. Her Spanish roommate came in and said !Que Maja! (Means "pretty' In Castilian Spanish)

You can actually do a conference call. Great way to get your homework done, create a study group on Skype. LOL

MySpace profile for a college application - Why not?

Has any one ever thought of using your MySpace profile as part of your college application?

You can actually tailor your profile to appeal to a college admissions officer. Upload pictures of your latest community service project, post your resume or simply write a blog about your interests and your community.

At this point most colleges are taking applications online so why not add your site url to your cover letter?

Advertisers are now using this valuable tool to advertise like Taco Bell.

Parents, take a look at MySpace, seriously, it doesn't bite and it is a very useful tool.

TTYS