14
Mar 08

In Memoriam: Tas & Nacho

Tas at the beach

Nacho Bell

today is a SAd day
i am vffeeling very low
the other cat is gone for good
i don’tknow why
i dind’t do it

first off she was sick and dshe didnt tell anybody she was sick
not even me
i said why are you so skinny and she said i dunno let me sleep
i said why do you sleep so much and she said because i am tired okay let me sleep
and when I said you are not eating my food anymore why are you not eating my food anymore she just licked her paw and went to sleep

so iw ent over and i said hey i dont think the other cat is feeling very well you ought to take her to the vets
at least if she was really feeling all right and just trying to lie to me and pretend to be sick for symppathy then a trip t o the vets would change her wagon
so they took her to the vets and this is what the vets said
oh she is not eating and not drinking and she has a fatty liver
this is when you donot eat and your liver gets full of fat
she has to stay for a few days and take the tests

so they kepther for a few days and they took her tests
and she lost four poudns
and they said she has pnacraiatis or something like a pancras i dont know what that is i’m only trying to read the words on the sheet
they said that she could be treatd okay but it would take a lot of work and a lot of medicins and I know what its like to take medicine and nobdoy likes that

last night they let her come home
she had a big bag of medicins
and food that I could not eat
they had medicine to antibitoics and medicine to make her want to eat
and medicines for her stomach and medicins for her liver
and a big tube to put the food in

she sat on her favorit chair and ate a bit of the food
and then she put her head on her paws

i said whats wrong with you
she said abbie i am a tired pirate
i said you are not a pirate you are a cat and you are here with me and soon you will be awake and fighting me for my food once again
she said no it has been a long voyage and it’s time for me to go
go where
she said you know the cats who have been before
the ones we sing songs about
who are always there even if you cant see them with your full eyes

is this the journey over that bridge of rainbows i said
she snorted and said pah that’s all nonsense
there is no bridge
you just move on, thats all

okay I said that is a relief
ebcause I don’t like too many bridges to begin wtih
but whats this about wanting to be with the cats who have been before
she said it’s not like i have much of a Choice abbie
i said this is bushwah and furthermore we are supposed to be together and if you go where does that leave me, all alone i tell you it’s not fair
she asaid i’ll always be around somewhere but you just won’t be able to see me
but when there’s a nice shadow on the floor
or if a cupboard door opens
i’m there

i am going to bite you I said
your kind of thinkingis foolish and you will get better
suit yourself she said
then the guy took her upstairs and put her on the bed and she went to sleep

listen says I following everybody upstairs
you cant go
i’m sorry if i was a pain
i’m sorry for the time we fought and i bit your ear
and maybe i could stand to let you have a fwew more Bitesin the cat dish
or the time i wanted you to go away
im sorry
i didn’t really want you to go away

she opened an eye
and said i know
we are brother and sister and that means a Lot
and you always were my best friend
but i am tired abbie
if you want you can help me out

how i said
she said remember the song i sung to you
the one you learned from me and the cats who have gone before
if you wanted you could sing it to me now

goodnight you cats I sang
Now is the time for all good cats to go to sleep
there are things to do tomorrow
And you can do them then
but now its time to sleep
and you can dream

and when i looked up she was sleeping and quite happy

this morning she was quiet and still
and breathing Very soft
she sat on a lap
in the sun
her name was martha
and she was petted gently
by pepole who loved her
and it was there she died

she didnt have to go

– Abbie the Cat, of Abbie the Cat Has a Posse


13
Mar 08

Twitter Updates for 2008-03-13

  • VastPark is running some kind of beta test tonight, want volunteers but dont know where I installed it. #
  • @suezanne You’re right, it’s 3/19 for the VastPark stress test. Thx! #
  • @rikomatic Assume you have the Life 2.0 conf next week? #
  • @rikomatic Life 2.0 Summit Spring 3/15 – 3/21 http://tinyurl.com/3bj95c #
  • Wondering if Launchball got slashdotted after winning SXSW award #
  • MIT Faculty Broadcast on Virtual Communities from yesterday is now working http://tinyurl.com/yrpg99 #
  • @scottmerrick NCAECT keynote at http://tinyurl.com/2ty8kr #
  • Still at work. Longest. Day. Evar. #

12
Mar 08

Twitter Updates for 2008-03-12

  • Sun whitepaper on Open Virtual Worlds http://tinyurl.com/2h4m46 #
  • MIT streaming something about VWs and education into SL tonight, but don’t know where. Anyone? #

12
Mar 08

Reading: Join the Conversation

Join the Conversation by Joseph Jaffe

Finally getting a chance to read Joseph Jaffe’s Join the Conversation: How to Engage Marketing-Weary Consumers with the Power of Community, Dialogue, and Partnership. It got buried in a stack of stuff during the Great Living Room Baseboard Debacle and only re-emerged this weekend following the Great Excavation Of The Spare Room.

I’m not in the marketing game and didn’t learn what an “affiliate” was until Twitter, but I’m thinking that there may be lessons for educators in here somewhere. I caught the tail end of a CSPAN broadcast the other day where Science Professor SoandSo was talking about how badly academia has failed to “market” the value and meaning of scientific research and education as a whole. When surveys consistently show that some unbelievable percentage of Americans don’t understand that evolution happens and that the natural selection part is the _theory_, you have to agree with Science Professor SoandSo. We’re doing something wrong, clearly!

I met jaffejuice through Twitter ages ago, it seems, and took him up on his offer of a free copy in exchange for an honest review, so it’s about time I got to it. Will let you know how it goes and hopefully I’ll find some good insights that might be of use to the educational community.


12
Mar 08

Intel Sez Plant Sunflowers


Intel recently launched a new initiative aimed at Second Life residents – visit their island and plant sunflowers. For every sunflower planted, they will donate $1USD to the Conservation International Foundation, up to $10,000. Participants from the US and Canada are also entered into a sweepstakes contest to win a notebook computer. It’s interesting to see companies changing their Second Life strategies to create spaces and builds that take advantage of SL’s capabilities. Not sure how many people have participated so far, but I’m betting they’ll hit the $10k goal in no time.
posted by Fleep Tuque on Intel using a blogHUD : [blogHUD permalink]


12
Mar 08

Links to Blog About Later

Hope to get more time to write about these things later, but in case not..

….

Import any model into Second Life: AC3D

….

Courtesy of The Grid Live: Please join Cisco this Thursday, March 13th 2008, at noon PDT to hear John Connell, Education Strategist and Business Development Manager at Cisco, discuss the concept of “Learning 2.0″. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cisco%20Systems%204/66/38/22

….

Sun’s Whitepaper on Open Virtual Worlds


11
Mar 08

Twitter Updates for 2008-03-11

  • Anybody wants a SocialThing invite let me know (think FriendFeed) #
  • @wainbrave Kinda nice to see at a glance what everyone is up to on multiple platforms #

09
Mar 08

Twitter Updates for 2008-03-09

  • Testing 123 #
  • @yvonner Thx! =) #
  • @wainbrave Thx! I’m still surprised people read it at all. Heh. =) #
  • Reading "SLumming: Almost A Year: Education" – http://tinyurl.com/2wt49v #
  • Taking a break from excavating the spare room, Hamlet live in SL @ 4SLT #
  • SL Shakespeare Company – Hamlet FINAL PERFORMANCE starting now. #
  • @dizzybanjo That’s what I was hinking, don’t know how they can even move! #

09
Mar 08

SL Education Case Study: Music Ed in Second Life

Came across an abstract thanks to @MalBurns about an instructor teaching a Music Appreciation course online using Second Life. The abstract discusses the process, method, and some early data and outcomes based on class assessments. Not only is it an interesting model to consider for synchronous, online instruction involving audio content, it’s also good to see some data that other educators can use to evaluate the effectiveness of the experiment. Thanks to Robert Walker for sharing this content.


09
Mar 08

ISTE Blogger’s Hut – I’ve been nominated!

ISTE Blogger's Hut

Thanks to a heads up from Scottmerrick Oh, it’s come to my attention that Fleep’s Deep Thoughts has been nominated for ISTE Blog of the Month! Wow! After checking out the other nominated blogs, I’m especially flattered considering the good company. Stop by the ISTE Blogger’s Hut in world to vote for your favorite blog, and check out the previous winners as well. Definitely adding some new feeds to the ole reader.. =)