Global Kids' Online Leadership Program

While I was working on the script, I was trying to think something that's completely simple and easy--that can still get the point through. So when we made the script, I thought it was going to be pretty normal and simple; but on Thursday during the storyboarding, I had this big "HAH~ in your face~!" moment hit me. While storyboarding, we realized that although our PSA was based around simple ideas--actually making the PSA wasn't that simple. I think we spent most of the hour and a half bugging Chris, Meredith and Sam about what is possible and what is not. When we actually made out our idea for the PSA--we depended on props in SL and based a lot of the actual PSA to be perfected in the editing process. For example, when the character is being looked at and the bullets come on~ we wanted the video to be on a grayscale--so when they get up to do the DDR part, the audience is not completely distracted by the avatar. And also, it would help the writing stick out a little more. In addition to that, the grey would also put an emphasis on the next part of the PSA since that will be the black screen with the white writing leading to the person looking a lot healthier and happier {which would all be in color}. It also made me think about the kinds of colors we would want to have in the beginning...and the time of day that the beginning will be filmed in. It makes me wonder if a dark blue light surrounding the avatar would help the emphasis on how the person is unhealthy in the beginning--but we also want to make the point that digital media is good--so maybe the lighting should be bright...and it could be one of those moments where the person has this little light bulb over their heads. The storyboard was difficult as in...we were trying to figure out the place we were going to be in SL literally...along with different angles that we are going to have the avatar and camera positioned in. And trying to depict that the text would be scrolling up as the avatar would be moving on doing their DDR part in the grey...just seemed somewhat hard to depict--but I guess as long as we know what we are trying to do it should be fine. But yes, all of this healthier lifestyle and the use of digital media has made me think a little about how people make themselves look in Second Life. Everyone is thin--regardless of how they look in real life. I blame the fashion industries and all the parts of popular culture that makes us think about looking a significant way. It seems as though beauty is very defined--in real life and in second life; I guess how we are impacted by that in real life reflects our avatars in second life. All the skins that are made are...dolled-looking; the skins are usually somewhat tanned and include a lot of make-up and less of a natural look. And avatars...I have not seen many avatars in second life that are not shaped like a Barbie-doll. And I don't say this to offend anyone--even my own avatar looks like one. So yes, I guess it has encouraged me really take this {these} snapshot{s}:

What is the difference between the two avatars? Nothing really, I did not change anything about myself besides changing my body fat from 15 to 75. Well okay, I will admit, I did use the different camera angles to emphasize the weights... because the higher shot in the first part on the left makes her waist side look smaller because the camera is closer to her head, and the lower shot in the second part on the right is more towards the side....I really do not know what the shot is called--but from my experience of taking pictures...this is the angle that will make people look somewhat thicker-or wider. Also, the lower shot puts an emphasis on the weight... but the main different is...basically that you are less likely to see an avatar looking like the one on the right. Anyway~ this idea of being "obese" in SL was first brought up by Rafi and he called it "SLobese"~ if I remember correctly, and I tried it out...it is kind of interesting ^^~ so thank you for the idea~! And I hope more people will try our looking a little less like the size-0 models. Plus, it is always pretty interesting to see someones reaction to something like this.

Posted by Nafiza - TSL Intern/VVP at 10:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This past tuesday my group kept working on our storyline. We were also givin our props on second life which is a great thing because we can start to set up are scenery. The group came up with an idea to add aquote from a certain individual in order to express the main idea of our PSA. We finished adding the final touches for the basic concept of our PSA. We just need the approval and the group is set to film with the oncoming arrival of the new and improved cameras.

Posted by VVP Armando at 8:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The month of February has been extremely exciting! We've been getting ready for our 1 Year Anniversary in Second Life, which will take place later in March. There will be 2 weeks set aside for these events, and we are making them as fun and engaging as possible. Wooo!

Here is some of the content that has been created for the 1 Year Anniversary so far:

This is a photo montage I created with images from previous events and happenings that we've held on GK island. Clicking on a title directs the user to the Flickr album associated with it.

I created this birthday card for GK, and Ryan Dayton is in the process of scripting it so that people can click it to leave their signature.

Here are some balloons I made for the events. Click on them dispenses the various balloons.

Brooke Barmy built this miniature replica of our volcano with billowing smoke.

As you can see, we've been really busy and are looking forward to the anniversary events that are scheduled for the week of March 12 - 16 and March 19th - 23rd. I still cannot believe it has been a year in SL already! It feels like just the other day that Global Kids Island popped up, and since then we have added 2 others. Isn't expansion just wonderful? =D

- Merc

Posted by Mercury at 7:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last class we worked on way points in class. It wasn't working the way it was supposed to and it was aggravating everyone. I was becoming very annoyed but I really wanted to use the way point cameras because it made the shots look so much cooler. That day I went home and was messing with the waypoints with mercury metropolitan and I think I've perfected it. I slapped together a really short video of waypoints surrounding Mercury while she danced and threw in a song. I would provide a link but I dont have access to youtube on this computer . Over the vacation I also started building props to our machinima (media piracy) with a bit of help building cds by Ribbity Voom (I think that was his last name) The CD store came out pretty nicely and I'm very satisfied with it. Then yesterday I was talking to a guy I met on GKid Island named Zack Voom. He also has a love for machinima and is very Second life Savvy. I asked him out to make a one way window like the ones I've seen in his house and the way he decided to teach me how to do it was by making a machinima! Heres a link to his machinima tutorial on making one wayed windows
http://zacramento.net/OneWayWindow/OneWayWindow.html
It was very nicely made and it taught me exactly what I needed. It was very helpful and it looks real professional. I just wanted to say thanks to Ribbity and Zack Voom! Thanks guys

Posted by VVP Joe at 2:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Last class we worked with the waypoints some more trying to perfect the use so that we are ready for production. Now this last class caused alot of frustration for me because the way point system isnt exactly bug free. But finally we got it to work once...but on a happier note after class joe worked a little more and perfected the way point so for our project we'll get those beautiful pans Im so in love with.

Posted by VVP Idan at 2:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Global Kids' work in Second Life was mentioned in this new book: Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens Are REALLY Doing Online, by Anastasia Goodstein.

Here is an excerpt from it:

Global Kids, a New York-based educational organization founded in 1990 that supports low-income inner-city youth to become community leaders and successful students, is the first non-profit organization to have built an island in Teen Second Life. Teens can visit the island, but the adults who work at Global Kids cannot visit the teen grid. The Online Leadership Program, run by Barry Joseph, “adapts Global Kids’ successful youth development model to the Internet, creating new opportunities for bringing civic engagement, global awareness, and leadership development to youth around the world through online games, online dialogues, and social action.”

One way Global Kids has done this by displaying a 3-D book with photos, films and essays created by the Global Kids teens on the island for the Second Life teens to check out. The organization also ran an essay contest with a $200 prize on the island where the teens had to follow clues in order to discover what the essay topic was. Verre described how Global Kids invited the Second Life teens to the island for a workshop with the Global Kids teens where Joseph asked them to come up with their approach to solving difficult social issues. The teens responded by saying they would “have a big comedy show so people can joke about it and not feel so bad about some of these issues and be all friendly and happy.” The teens then built a comedy club on the island where they did stand-up and had a virtual party afterward.

The folks at Linden Lab are working on making Teen Second Life more accessible by simplifying the tools and improving and increasing the tutorials. Youth librarians have voiced interest in setting up a young adult library in Teen Second Life. It’s a unique virtual hangout created by the teens who spend time there. As a result, they have a strong sense of ownership over the community. And since teens have so little control over their lives in the real world, this is a good thing.

Posted by Radhika at 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last Tuesday, I think we all realized how difficult it is to deal with glitches and how difficult it is to get the perfect shot. I guess we realized the difference between something that seems as if it is doable versus what actually is doable. I think we had the most issues with getting shots because we really needed the props and did not have them. We also had issues getting somewhere that seemed normal but did not have people getting in the way of our camera. We had four hours to actually do something useful...and four hours went by so quickly and so little was actually done in those hours. I think the cameras kind of threw us off since we were all having technical difficulties using them. Also, there was so much lag! I got logged off maybe 3 times, and then the computer just went insane on me this other time where the screen just went...pan-able.~ It was strange, but I do think that it helped us remember some things that we needed for our PSA's. And Barry said that he found an even better Camera~ so I look forward to finding out how that works out~ ^.^~ I saw his post~ and it looks interesting~ I just hope it is not too difficult to use!

Oh~ and another note!!!! I forgot to mention...we decided on a name! Well...we were seeing if we should change our name in the first place; I thought that we were kind of too much into the program to change it and it was best as it was--and apparently...it is ^^~ the perfect title! Its strange because we went from VVTP (teen), Mateenima, VVTP (team), Birds of America...and etc etc.~ and spent so much time...figuring out that we liked our name as it was~ ^^ I don't think we should have ever even tried to change it~ because since it was used to attract us to join in the first place~ it must have been good and to the point already~ ^^

Posted by Nafiza - TSL Intern/VVP at 11:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last week we got in more depth of filming in Second Life. We watched a couple of videos showing us how to perform the task. Once we learned the skills, the group put the skills into play. We had some difficulty with working the cameras in Second Life, but it is all in the process of learning. We gathered some pictures to put on billboards and to set up the scenery for our PSA. In time we will be able to get the hang of it so that we will be able to accomplish more in our project.

Posted by VVP Armando at 8:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The core mechanic of the game Ayiti The Cost Of Life is moving from place to place. This is considered the core mechanic because you do this rapidly. The goal of the game is to get as much money you can. The sub goal is a secondary goal. This tells you that you are closer to the goal. The sub goal of Ayiti is spending as little money you can. The conflict is basicaly an obstacal that stops the player from advancing. The conflict that I saw was saving and spending money. If you dont save the right amount of money you enter poverty and that causes your people too die. The uncertain thing about this game is natural disasters like hurricanes. If a hurricane hits I would be unsure of what would happen to my people.

Posted by p4kAhbiashon at 5:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The game Ayiti fits all the requirements of an interesting game. In this game the goal is to make money for a particular family. But there are many obstacles. One of these obstacles is that the family keepsgetting sick or an injury occurs thus creating the Conflict and Uncertainty in the game. This game allows us choices - either we are to continue working and ignore an injury or go to the hospital and pay money [which is an obstacle to this poor family

These things created much interest in the game.

Posted by p4kjonathan at 4:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Goal: Provide a good life for the family.
Core Mechanic: Go to school, work.
Sub goal: Get an education.
Uncertainty: You dont know what is going to happen to your family.
Conflict: One season you get money the next you lose a lot of money.
It is clear that you have to get an education and money to survive.

Posted by p4kvladimyr at 4:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The 5 elements in the game Ayiti are:
Core Mechanic - Deciding which family member should go to school, work, or rest at home.
Goal - Try to make a good living for the family.
Sub Goal - Helping the family survive.
Uncertainy - You don't know if the family is going to survive.
Conflict - The family is low on money and there is very little education.

Posted by clautaire at 4:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The blog assignment for P4K students: Deconstruct the game Ayiti. What are the five elements including core mechanic, goal, sub-goal, uncertainty and conflict? Give some examples of meaningful play in Ayiti.

Posted by Radhika at 2:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As the New York City teens prepare to film Machinima in Second Life, a friend of mine has been busy creating scenes and props for them to use. Ryan Dayton, a very well known builder and scripter on the Teen Grid has graciously volunteered to do this for us, and we are very thankful to have him.

Just check out his detailed work:

This is an internet cafe scene that Ryan created.

This is a bedroom setting that he made as well.

Pretty amazing, right?

- Merc

Posted by Mercury at 1:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Geius from the main grid is working with Global Kids to give us access in the teen grid to his FANTASTIC camera tool. Below is a photo of him sitting on the camera chair, surrounded by some of the yellow-ball waypoints that will shape the path of the camera. You can also see in the upper left what the camera looks like. We can't wait to use it in the program to make our PSAs.

Posted by Barry at 9:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Celebrating the start of our second year in the teen grid, Global Kids has launched the Global Kids Serious Gaming Island, along with the Global Kids Machinima Island. Both islands will develop communities that will support our related after school programs while providing an environment to engage TSL residents around the same issues.

Below is a shot from the first few moments on the island, - a tringo board and a chess board, with Blue helping us out, along with Rafi, Joe Gkid, Mercury, Jackson Widget, and myself. Very exciting things to come.

Posted by Barry at 9:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by joyce at 9:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today we spent 4 hours working on our PSA's. I can honestly say the best part of the day was the pizza, just kidding. In our group we worked on making practice videos. This would serve as experience in the different angles. As a group I think we did a lot of work, we were able to film a part of our PSA. We got an idea of what we are going to be doing when it’s time to really be filming. Today was pretty much a fun educational day beside the appearance of the museum itself. I'm looking forward to next week when we can come back and start putting our videos together.

Posted by VVP Hassan at 9:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last class we learned a lot! We had a cinematography workshop where we watched clips from movies that had interesting camera angles or colors or styles. We learned that the colors and lighting of scenes can affect the mood, while speeding up and slowing down scenes can cause dramatization or draw attention on objects. We learned about different camera angles that cause different effects like in "Do The Right Thing" the camera angles looking up at someone and looking down on someone gives you the feel of respect and a sort of looking down on a person literally and figuratively. Each clip had a specific style that was important. For example, Amelie used lighting and color to bring out moods. The shining used the camera angle at a low point so that it gives you the point of view of a helpless child. Psycho used the camera to stay at a certain point while things happen off screen to cause a sense of foreboding and The Untouchables used slow motion to cause dramatization in which the baby carriage fell in slow motion. All the clips were very interesting and gave me a lot of ideas for my groups PSA.

Posted by VVP Joe at 1:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last week we took a look at clips from different movies. It was one of the most educational things I’ve seen because I have not watched movies in so many shots and perspectives. The different views were used to show build up scenes such as suspense in a movie. This exercise gave the group many ideas on how to start the preproduction.

Posted by VVP Armando at 9:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Thursday the 15th of February, we mostly spent the Machinima session watching different clips. I think everyone can say that they did learn something from that session because Chris and Meredith broke down different aspects of a movie, or aspects that a movie may contain, and showed it to us. They used different clips to show us how people use color, angle, shots and duration in the actual movie. I guess I liked how they taught it to us because they showed us a clip and asked about one aspect like color and then they showed us one that was very different. By the last clip we could identify most of the different aspects and so we could basically watch a clip and break down the different components. The movies were all pretty interesting—but I have probably only watched….four maybe? We didn’t get to watch one last clip though…it was a German movie—it wouldn’t load on Youtube. Oh well~ I guess. I thought the movie Psycho seemed pretty interesting; it may have been an old movie, but the plot seemed interesting. I think this was a good time for me to learn these things because I was actually watching some videos made by Torley Linden about making shots on SL—and the lesson Meredith and Chris gave coincided perfectly with that. So I guess, now all there is to do, is begin the production process—or do the actual filming…gather our props together…and etc. etc…. I’m glad we’re getting four straight hours to do that ^-^~

Posted by Nafiza - TSL Intern/VVP at 9:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In class we finished our pre-production work and divided up important tasks amongst each other. I had a look at joe's cd's in second life because we need alot of those for our PSA. They were to big and so we had to find a way to make them smaller. With the tasks evenly destributed the work should get done efficiently and quickly. Finally today all we've got to do is finish up what we didnt get done in the last minutes of class. With scripting and storyboarding done things should progress very smoothly. I look forward for our production lesson with merideth and chris today.

Posted by VVP Idan at 4:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last class, we finished scripting and storyboarding for our movie! Now all we need to do is get on Second Life and start building our props. I already signed on and checked on some of the props that I've built and discovered that they were too big so I have to remake them. We've divided the group work evenly and we'll start working on it today!

Posted by VVP Joe at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last week in Chicago, Global Kids was delighted to participated in the Macarthur Foundation sponsored event at Newberry Library in Chicago entitled, "Do Video Games Help Kids Learn?". Below is a great overview of the event posted by a teacher who drove all of the way from New York just to participate (and mentions us as well).

Read his post here.

Posted by joyce at 11:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today we spent the entire hour and a half finishing up our scripts. And honestly... an hour and a half goes by very quickly. Our idea did develop a lot though from the last time to what we have now. We changed our idea about putting a sensitivity feeling behind the PSA...and we added in a DDR part. First, we had...a magical transformation of the avatar turning thin after using the computer--but now we changed it so that... after the avatar finishes using the computer--they go and play the DDR thingy with others and then 3 months later... they lose a lot of weight and they are much happier with themselves. My main concern about the PSA is satisfying the time limitation of the PSA and also getting off track. I want to be able to show that someone is getting physically fit through the use of digital media--but if we emphasize that they are much happier now because they have more self-confidence...will that distract us from making the point we were trying to make. Since, we are done with the script; I can’t wait until I try to do the actual filming of the PSA. I think, during the filming or test filming, we will get a clear understanding of what is possible and what is not.

Posted by Nafiza - TSL Intern/VVP at 10:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thursday we worked on our scripts and discussed how we were going to portray our message visually. We continued our research but the main portian of our time was plannning out what needs to be said done and heard. The group decided that our message and the mood of the PSA would be better expressed as merely video with no audio and only music. At the end of the PSA would be a series of short messages keeping the serious and depressive mood while displaying important and worthwhile info.
Overall I think the pre-production stage is coming along well and we will soon be done and ready to start production.

Posted by VVP Idan at 3:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last class in global kids we started working on our script. So far we've made great progress in the machinima. We have most of a story board and a lot of our script done. We have all our idea proccessed. Also our group had added a lot more statistics and found more reference sites to base our information off of. I believe that by the end of next class we will have the script and the story board done. We'll most likely start filming also.

Posted by VVP Joe at 3:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We blogged about Mia Farrow's discussion in Second Life back on January 9, 2007. Well now there is a blog entitled Crisis in Darfur that features Mia Farrow and guests discussions and videos from Second Life on the genocide emergency in Darfur.

Visit this new blog here.

Posted by joyce at 3:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In their article "Schools, libraries finding second life in Second Life," an excellent look at a library creating a presence in SL, Global Kids works gets a mention. Check it out here.

Posted by joyce at 8:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey everbody,

On Thursday 2/8/07 we did more work on our PSA. Meridith and Chris talked to us more about the production ideas for our PSA. After that Sam gave us sheets for written ideas(narration, text, props, visual/shot, people, location). Our group didn't do anything much because we were deciding which discrimination we wanted to address. Well that was all for that day. Bye!

Posted by VVP brandon at 6:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Betsy Stoll of the of the blog "Second Life: Binary Footprints" posted an entry on Global Kids highlighting our projects within Teen Second Life and here on holymeatballs.org.

Read what she has to say here.

Posted by joyce at 12:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was checking out one of Henry Jenkin's projects, funded by the MacArthur Foundation, when I was delighted to come across a blog entry, on their New Media Literacies Project site, entitled, "The Cost of Life? Expensive".

The excellent piece began with a reflection on our summer camp in Second Life but quickly expands into an excellent analysis of the game, which conclude: It is a fairly amazing feat to generate such a strong feeling of sympathy and responsibility in a short web-based game. It will be, I suspect, a valuable tool for classroom learning, as well as personal reflection.

Read it all at: http://www.projectnml.org/node/546 or below

I was reading a post by Barry Joseph to the new Macarthur Spotlight blog, which tracks news about crossovers between digital media and learning. The post itself is rather interesting, an attempt to distill what was learned from a kind of global summer camp held in virtual world Second Life into a list of best practices for virtual education initiatives. Definitely check it out.

But that post got me to exploring the rest of the Global Kids website, and I came across the videogame they developed in partnership with Unicef to get kids thinking about living conditions in the developing world, called Ayiti: The Cost of Life. I played the game, and soon got sucked into the challenge of making life better for my family of rural Haitians.

This is a powerful example of games for learning, and I thought it was worth a short analysis.

The game is a kind of simplified version of The Sims in which you direct a family of 2 adults and 3 children to better their lot in life by saving money and participating in educational and community building opportunities. In fact, the mechanics are closest to a genre of Japanese games little seen in the United States known as "raiser" games, where the player takes on the task of raising a young girl by scheduling her weeks full of work, education, and rest (the most well-known example in the US is Princess Maker 2). These are turn-based rather than real-time games like The Sims. In this case, the game is divided into 16 turns: 4 years of 4 seasons each. Each season you decide which of your family is going to work, go to school, work on the community center, or, in the event one of them gets sick, go to the hospital. You can also purchase items at a store that can make life easier in an appreciable way.

But if The Sims is partially designed to be an ironic commentary on suburban economic optimism, with its "residents" literally buying their way to happiness, then Ayiti is its opposite. According to the
rules the designers have set out, life is indeed hard in Haiti, and expensive. Your virtual family is often set back by hurricanes, serious diseases, and robberies. Sometimes items that you buy work as advertised, sometimes they're a waste of money. In short, this is a dire picture of Haitian life. It would be disrespectful of the real people living in these conditions to assert otherwise.

But it does create an interesting paradox: the game is very hard (and there's really no "winning" it), but also needs to testify to the efficacy of education and the community spirit. Sometimes these values come into conflict, as with the option of putting a family member to work as a Unicef volunteer. The family receives no immediate compensation for this work. The value of volunteering is expressed as a slight boost to the volunteer's education and happiness, and a long-term statistical advantage to the health and well being of the family. But those are awfully abstract when you need money to cure your family's breadwinner of diptheria. Again, this is kind of the point: volunteer work rarely benefits the volunteer directly. But a child who plays the game a couple of times may be frustrated by the difficulty level, and never get to a point in the game where she sees the value of this option. It's easy to give up on the game and conclude that the rules are stacked against you.

One detail I had a particular problem with was the representation of Unicef's presence in the community. After a family member has volunteered several times, buildings start to spring up on the map labelled with names like "community center" and "health center." The fruits of your labor. But these buildings, unlike others on the map, are grayed out. They do not offer services. If a family member gets sick, he can't travel to the "health center," but has to pay the exhorbitant rates at the hospital. I think I understand the intention behind this--NGOs shouldn't be represented as a panacea for these communities--but it's frustrating nonetheless. Game developer Ken Birdwell has said of games, "if the world ignores the player, the player won't care about the world." It's clear that, for this game to best fulfill its educational mission, it needs to be supplemented with deeper research and discussion about its subject.

But despite these points, the game certainly succeeds on many levels. The intervention I feel it makes most powerfully has the least to do with the lessons about education it attempts to impart. The game makes me care a lot, in a very short period of play, for this family. When a family member gets sick or depressed, or is depicted openly crying, it certainly tugs the heart strings. It's especially effective when I am reminded of how these little cartoons represent real families in Haiti. It is a fairly amazing feat to generate such a strong feeling of sympathy and responsibility in a short web-based game. It will be, I suspect, a valuable tool for classroom learning, as well as personal reflection.

Posted by joyce at 10:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today in Global Kids we continued on our work on credibility. This was merely a session of brainstorming and deciding how we are to present our idea of credibility to expose the matters necessary to know. I really can’t say what we plan to do, but the group has come up with a couple of ideas to help with the presentation. We still need more time to brainstorm and I believe the presentation on Global Kids will be worth it.

Posted by VVP Armando at 7:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dani, at her blog Straddling the Century Line, has written one of our favorite descriptions yet of our game, Ayiti:

In the February issue of Marie Claire magazine, I found a link to a game called Ayiti: The Cost of Life. It was created by a group of high school students to illustrate how difficult it is for poor families to stay on top of finances, education, and health. It follows four years broken down into sixteen seasons, and you have to assign each of the family members a new task each season. Either they go to work, go to school, go to the hospital, or stay at home to rest. Random events pop up that will affect the family positively or negatively.

I'm a fan of the recent crop of casual games, and this has a similar style. It reminds me a bit of Lemonade Stand, in that the player makes all of the decisions at the beginning of the season and then watches how they play out. The difference is that the flavor text throughout the game made me think about consequences that a real family in Haiti would face without being preachy. There isn't a clear strategy to win this game, either. At the beginning, it gives you a choice of four strategies you can follow. However, if you play this game more than once you will see that it doesn't matter which strategy you pick -- getting ahead is difficult. If you choose to focus on any one element, you still have to worry about the other three. Just like real life.

Posted by joyce at 7:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Tuesday, we got our information together for our PSA's. Our group was mostly done with gathering the information but we were having problems with getting an idea for a gimmick (if this is spelled wrong--Jack is to blame) that would be catchy and to the point--as in relating to our topic. We couldn’t come up with one--so we looked up different catch phrases and we found things like "The computer is your friend"--its funny, but it does not work well with our topic since it doesn't express what our PSA is about. As for the information that is actually going into our PSA--that is the issue; I think we should do bullet points instead of doing a voice over because that might be hard to do in such a short time. Anyway, Tuesday was great because we got the chance to get together and figure out some things as a team--but it was a short amount of time--which is probably why those couple of hours doing the winter break is a good idea. But, at this point, I think we really need to get together and figure out what really needs to go into the PSA and what we could do it make it creative and interesting. And also, make it in a way that does not really attack or insult anyone in specific. I guess that’s a important part--because we never really want to target people or insult them...but we still want to make a point.

Posted by Nafiza - TSL Intern/VVP at 4:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In our last class my group got together again and started finishing our PSA sheets. We have a partly finished detailed Storyboard, we finished the "Refining PSA's" sheet and we had a lot of research done. We found links to sites where they had stats on how much money was being lost on Media Piracy (our topic) due to bootlegs, copying, and downloading. We accomplished a lot that day and I cant wait to get to today’s class to finish more work.

Posted by VVP Joe at 2:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tuesday's class involved us continuing our research on our PSA's. We found a lot of good information and I started a simple storyboard so I could get my ideas down on paper. It was really enjoyable to have a chance to start thinking in movie terms and creative ways. I still got a lot to do and plan and I look forward to it. Our PSA about media piracy will feature a prediction of what the media world will come to in a few years. We are focusing on music piracy and not only illegal uses but how Itunes is destroying the record business. Well I'll update you all more on what happens as it happens. Until next time.

Posted by VVP Idan at 2:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Tuesday my group and I picked up where we left off in our research. We were shown how to use Google tools in order to make a document or spreadsheet. For the past week and a half my group has been more in depth with the issue of credibility. Not that it’s an issue, it’s that the media has a thing for making false accusations and over exaggerating a simple concept. Though there are some faults in the telling of an issue, most of the stuff you read on the newspapers and watch the news is true. Its when you actually take time to research the different points of view from different channels or other newspapers you get to see that there is a flaw in the news that we are hearing and reading.

Posted by VVP Armando at 9:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today was the second session of February. It was a good session because we got a Gmail account, even though it took me forever to get it. But at the end, I created one and found out it to be very helpful. It has docs and spreadsheets. During the session, we learn how to use docs and spreadsheets and how to upload existing files. Later on we got into our PSA group and got to work on the question we started last week. Right now my group got all the information together and are waiting for the next step. The next step is to writing the scripts for our PSA, which sound exciting but must be difficult task.

Posted by at 7:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have had a lot of fun at Global Kids. It is an awesome place to be. I have learned a lot of new stuff and looking forward to devote as much time as possible. My group and I have been very into our topic, doing research and all. Our topic is MEDIA PIRACY; it is a very intriguing topic. Media Piracy is a global issue facing the world today. Media Piracy is the action of stealing other's programs, files, music, and videos just by simple using the Internet and creating copies. Online people use file sharing programs such as Limewire, Morpheus, and others programs to acquire the item. My group and I have decided to create a fiction animated PSA to expose the problem. We have numerous websites that we are using and are determined to accomplish the tasks required. I have learned lot about my friends in the group by communicating and working together. Such as the digital gap and the right to education for all. In other words I enjoy working with Global Kids and I am excited about my PSA.

Posted by Manpreet GKid at 3:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Tuesday Feb. 6 2007, we got split up into the groups we were in a couple of weeks ago. As a group we had to continue our project. We looked up research for our video and also answered some questions about it. As a group we came up with the format, what the story is about and how we will do it. I think yesterday was a great starter in helping us learn the basics for making a movie and should be very useful to us in the future.

Posted by VVP Hassan at 7:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ABC News aired a piece on serious games in which they interviewed Catherine from Gamelab and showed footage and spoke about our game, Ayiti: the Cost of Life.

Click here to view the piece.

Here are some photos:

Posted by joyce at 12:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey guys,

On 2/6/07 we got our stipend for the wonderful work we did so far in Machinima. Chris and Meredith took us on a museum tour to get an experience for effects on our computer. They also talked to us about post, and preproduction for our movie. Well, that’s all for now.
Bye! :)

Posted by VVP brandon at 3:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Thursday we got to see the other floor of the museum. This floor you could say was the pre-production floor. It included all the aspects involved in the pre production stage. We saw clothing, props, set designs (miniatures and models) and we had a look at some of the (I guess you could call them) animitronics featured in films. For example we saw the doll used in the production of the Exorcist for the scene where the girls head turns around. It was rather interesting to see how the cinematographer used the camera to conceal the unrealistic line on the doll that allowed it to revolve.
The pre-production process is very interesting and I've had a lot of personal experience with it and have seen how much better things come out when they are properly thought out and planned. Storyboarding is something that at times has proven to be a bit of a drag but I always enjoy seeing how different or similar my shots come out compared to what I drew. It’s an interesting part of film production and I look forward to preparing our PSA's.

Posted by VVP Idan at 2:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Thursday, we learned a lot about pre production. We took a tour of the museum and looked at costumes and props and things needed in pre-production (things you do before you start filming.) We learned a lot about what we need to plan out before filming and how one minor detail can change a whole film like how the mouth piece of the actor for the godfather effected his facial features and speaking.
As a side note, I've recently read a news article about how Ebay took off all items and things that are inside online games from the market, leaving only Second Life items to be sold and because second life was such an enterprising market there have been sweat shops that opened up in REAL life dedicated to selling/making things for Second life. Which I thought was pretty concerning because it was already bad enough with sweat shops made to make real products but to have more made to make game items? That's just astonishing.

Posted by VVP Joe at 2:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last week the teens from the Digital Media Youth Advisory met with the folks from Harvard's GoodWork Project, to help inform their upcoming MacArthur-funded White Paper on youth and online ethics.

The researchers from Harvard were really appreciative of the time they got to spend with the youth advisory, and sent this thank you:

Dear Global Kids Digital Media Advisory Group, We just wanted to take a few minutes to thank you for the excellent conversation we had last Friday. We learned a lot about the sorts of things that you are interested in and concerned about in the new digital media and appreciated everyone's enthusiasm. When we got back to Harvard we talked about the great idea you raised about turning our upcoming paper on ethics in the digital media into something that you can read, enjoy and use. We really hope we can work with you to do that and will keep you informed as we progress on it.

We look forward to working with you in the future. If you have ideas or thoughts and would like to email us, our email addresses are below.

Thanks again!
Lindsay and John

Below are some photos from the lively conversation. Click to see more.

www.flickr.com Holy Meatballs' Digital Media Youth Advisory meets with the Good Works Projects photoset

Posted by Barry at 1:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Thursday we found out how much our stipends were going to be. we had to verify some information. The most important part of the day was the tour we had on preproduction. Meridith was my group's tour guide. We learned a lot from the tour. We looked at how some movies are made. My favorite part of the tour was the girls from the exorcist. I learned that they had to put a doll for when the girl's head had to turn. Everything in the tour looked so real, and some were very scary.

Posted by VVP mohamado at 5:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey everyone! Recently, I've been helping the winning teams from The World Fit for Children building contest move their builds from GK Island 2 to GK Island 1. We're trying to clear off GK Island 2 for the machinima projects that will be taking place in the near future. Here is a pic of their new location:

We are also in the process of planning various events for Global Kids' 1st year Anniversary in SL! Wow, I can't believe it has been that long already. It feels like just the other day that Global Kids came to the teen grid. I've been working to create some content for these events, and am really looking forward to them! The events will coincide with the Global Kids annual conference, which will be video-streamed into SL for all to view. So many exciting things will be happening this month. I can't wait! ~ MM

Posted by Mercury at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I guess it was about time we took a tour of the museum we have been working in for such a long time. So far, we have been working in one corner of the museum so we haven't all gotten the chance to get to see the entire museum. Anyway, I guess Thursday was great for that reason—we finally got the chance to see the museum! There are a lot of interesting things that we got to see from costumes, to hair and make-up; we also got to see a lot of old fashion special effects. I really have no idea how to word that but yeah I was referring to the mechanical dolls and wolves, and the yoda puppet. I liked looking at the different costumes--all the dresses were very pretty. And I guess we can do 'anything' in second life--but making one of those dressed in SL would take a while to make. And if we used prims to make them...it would probably take a lot of prims--and probably a lot of textures, and then probably a lot of linden. I don't know if we can do that with the time limit we have.

Then again, I guess we probably won’t need too many complex clothes. I guess anyway. Well, maybe everything will fall in place once we actually start. Plus, I guess, it can't too hard for us when it comes down to wardrobe, and make-up since our Machinima is on a computer potato that learns to use the computer to lead a healthier life. I guess that just requires casual clothing and probably minimum make up. I guess the only concern now is putting everything together and making a message for everyone. Oh--and that reminds me--Chris and Meredith also taught us about the different roles of people in making a film and what they do in the making of that movie I guess. They also taught the procedure of making the movie itself—as in the production process. I guess Thursday was good because we got the chance to see what we really need for our PSA’s and what we should do to prepare for beginning it.

Posted by Nafiza - TSL Intern/VVP at 4:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today in global kids we went on a tour of the museum. We learned about the basics of production. We also learned abot the different roles played in pre production. We personally liked the costumes because they depict the personality of the individuals and the setting of the story.

Posted by VVP Armando at 5:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tuesdays' class was fun we got to speak about pre production and the elements involved in the planning of film. I had a lot of prior knowledge on the subject due to the fact that I do pre-production on my own films/shorts. I have seen through personal experience that drawing out your shots really helps and insures a better outcome overall. What im looking forward to is what we will be doing Thursday which is a more in depth lesson on pre production. I'll be taking lots of notes so i can better my own films.

Posted by VVP Idan at 4:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Tuesday Chris and Meredith taught us about "Story Boarding" and its uses. Story boarding is basically a small comic book describing what you want your film to look like, what it will have and is basically a start plan for your film, that you can use to have a basic idea of what your trying to do with your film. Then later on in the class we started working on our PSA's a little. We were broken up into groups so that everyone will have an even spread of skills in each group. My group settled on Media Piracy because I already had ideas for the PSA and because media piracy is an issue hat I think is very serious. I've started a little on the PSA at home on second life. I already started making CD's and started building a virgin mobiles record store. I wont tell you what they are for you just have to wait for our PSA to finish and then watch it yourself .

Posted by VVP Joe at 2:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While I was doing some research on privacy in the internet (my PSA topic) I decided to look at the articles in The Times Magazine. There I found some cool, but scary information. In the article they mention different websites that take the time to upload all our private information, at least for phone owners. Then if you want to, you can pay like $50 and they will provide you with the background information of the person you are searching. I think we definitely do not have any type of "privacy". There are also many websites that can provide you with credit card information and social security numbers. This whole thing definitely goes against our right to privacy as the universal declaration of human rights states in article 12. Now I’m definitely much more afraid of sharing information online. Anyone can be at risk, someone that does to like you can easily find you phone number, address and all "private" information in the internet and later harm you.
Even though this is a great problem out there, what can we do about it?
I think for now all we can do is inform people by making the PSAs and later see what happens.

Posted by VVP Jackeline at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hi this is Miguel and Angela and we are blogging about Tuesday's worshop in Global Kids. It was very interesting to examine how you first do a story board in order to produce a movie or a commercial. We learned how you do not always follow the story board. we also learned story boards are helpful with camera angles, such as close up, wide angle in others. We also got into groups in order to research, and ultimately produce, an PSA in Second Life. We are very excited about that. We also hope to learn more about camera angles, and more techniques in Second Life.

Posted by VVP Miguel at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In January, 115,600 unique people played the game, spending on average of 9.5 minutes. On it's most popular day, nearly 16,000 people played the game. 11.96% of all traffic came from Norway. 89.11% of the U.S. traffic came from California.

Below is map showing usage across the U.S.:

Posted by Barry at 9:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)