========================================================================= Date: Thu, 19 Jan 1995 10:56:45 -0500 Reply-To: Journal of Virtual Reality In Education Complete Journal Sender: Journal of Virtual Reality In Education Complete Journal From: Dick Banks Subject: Lunar Ken at CollegeTown @copyright DUJVRE and Flora Moon Lunar at DU 1994 Flora Moon Lunar at DU 73 Ken at CollegeTown Excerpts from interview of Ken at Collegetown by Lunar assisted by idd. Imagine the text scrolling up your screen, pausing every few seconds. [on TV] . . .the camera zooms in on Ken. . . [on TV] You see a middle-aged professor type who likes to fool around with computers and virtual worlds. He is one of the janitors here and is happy to help or chat. [on TV] Lunar says, "First of all I want to say happy anniversary, Collegetown is one year old!" [on TV] Ken says, "thankyou " [on TV] Lunar says, "How does it feel to be the father of all this?" [on TV] Ken says, "I do indeed feel like a father at times, and like all fathers i hold in my heart a great love and tenderness for this moo which I have seen develop from a single room and a half dozen members to its present size and scope.." [on TV] Lunar says, "What is its present size and scope? " [on TV] Ken says, "sorry for the delay, i was running some stats programs on our community.." [on TV] Ken says, "the stats show we are presently at 306 members, of which 115 are from Buena Vista College.. either students or faculty.." [on TV] Lunar says, "And who are the others?" [on TV] Ken says, "The others include undergraduates, graduate students, faculty members, assorted folks from various communities and several children.." [on TV] Lunar says, "Why did you build collegetown?" [on TV] Ken says, "I have decided it is important to include members of all ages.." [on TV] Ken says, "I built Collegetown as a platform for collaborative academic research and teaching.. with the intent that academicians of all ilk might meet here to exchange ideas, work together on projects , and hold seminars.. I also thought that.." [on TV] Ken says, "having the theme be *only* academic was unduly restrictive.. so I have divided collegetown into 3 theme areas.." [on TV] Lunar says, "Could you elaborate?" Flora Moon Lunar at DU 74 [on TV] Ken says, "There is foremost the campus itself, then there is the 'city', and finally the outer wilderness and nature area lying all about.. here is where.." [on TV] Ken says, "folks can build houses for themselves and do a bit of socializing.. It is my belief.." [on TV] Ken says, "that much valuable research and thinking takes place 'outside' the classroom while folks talk and socialize so i believe.." [on TV] Ken says, "it is important to provide open spaces like seashores, forest walks, mountains etc.. as stimulants to good conversation and the exchange of ideas.." [on TV] Ken says, "After all, Socrates himself did his thinking on his feet strolling through the marketplace.. " [on TV] Lunar grins [on TV] Lunar says, "I was wondering if you would take us to a favorite place and we can return here if it is too crowded" [on TV] Ken says, "i have many favorite places lets go!" [on TV] Ken heads for the South Quad... [on TV] You are on a grassy quadrangle surrounded by ivy covered buildings. [on TV] Lunar says, "What happens here?" [on TV] Ken says, "this is just a quad.. a central hub connecting many academic buildings.. mostly people just socialize here on the lawn.." [on TV] Lunar says, "I notice a lot of humor here, tell me about that" [on TV] Ken says, "humor? such as?" [on TV] Lunar says, "Robbo, for instance a wise cracking humble servant.." [on TV] Ken laffs.. 'Every creation reflects in part the personlity of its creators.. Collegetown is no different... [on TV] Ken says, "I find moos immensely enjoyable .." [on TV] Lunar agrees [on TV] idd says, "robbo may have been around earlier if I recall?" [on TV] Ken says, "and I am pleased that my joy overflows into some of my objects.. appearing there as 'humor' " Flora Moon Lunar at DU 75 [on TV] Lunar says, "Who's idea was it to make the ascii representations of spaces like the quad here?" [on TV] Ken says, "as i mentioned before, we have many middle school students working here and they contribute there own form of humor.. " [on TV] Ken says, "ah, I believe this is one of the firs moos to be fully ascii mapped.. its not just the quad.. *everything* is mapped (or will be)... " [on TV] Ken says, "I have chosen to do this because.." [on TV] Ken says, "I believe that spatial orientation is a strong component of thinking..." [on TV] Ken says, "we can use our innate proprioceptive skills to help orient ourselves in virtual space just as in physical space.." [on TV] Ken says, "we are *used* to operating in physical space, we feel at home there.. my goal is to bring as many senses to play in VR as is possible.." [on TV] Lunar says, "I feel *oriented* here because of the ascii mapping, an instant familiarity that the maps confer..." [on TV] Ken smiles [on TV] Ken says, "i am very interested in the interfacing of WWW and moos to show graphics and sound... I am following with keen interests the work of gustavo, pavel, and others in this area.." [on TV] Ken says, "I feel that present moosters are much like the early pioneers heading West in coverd wagons.." [on TV] Lunar nods vigrously in agreement [on TV] Ken says, "Where we now go by foot over untracked deserts, future mooers will travel by jet plane.." [on TV] Ken smiles [on TV] idd says, "are there many classes held here at CT?" [on TV] JeremyS arrives from The Forum... [on TV] JeremyS says, "ahem, could I ask you a question Dr. Schweller?" [on TV] Ken [to idd]: DU holds many more classes than we do.. we hold small seminars and there are writing workshops and a few faculty meet with grad students here.. and a few regular classes have been held.. we look forward to doing much more in the future.. Flora Moon Lunar at DU 76 [on TV] . . .the camera zooms in on JeremyS. . . You see a student with glasses and dark hair [on TV] Ken grins jeremyS, smile, you are on camera, i am being interviewd by these folks.. [on TV] JeremyS smiles, uh sorry... [on TV] Ken says, "Jeremy is a new member of Collegetown, and a member of my 3 week cyberspace class.." [on TV] JeremyS says, "Would you like me to leave?" [on TV] Ken says, "you may ask him a question if you like " [on TV] Ken grins jeremyS, of course not! [on TV] Lunar says, "I'd like him to ask his question, if he swouldn't mind" [on TV] JeremyS says, "Well, I was wondering if there was a way to erase keywords from our robots?" [on TV] Ken [to JeremyS]: sure, just '@exam botname' and you will see how to use 'remove' to erase a keyword.. [on TV] JeremyS says, "alright, thanks" [on TV] Ken says, "for example, 'remove 5 from robot'" [on TV] JeremyS says, "ok, bye.." [on TV] Ken says, "use the number of the word." [on TV] Ken waves [on TV] Lunar waves [on TV] JeremyS waves back [on TV] Ken says, "ok.. lets check out the downtown area.." [on TV] Ken heads for Main Street! [on TV] Ken says, "This is the hub of the second theme.. we saw the 'Gown'.. this is the 'Town'" [on TV] Lunar says, "And the statue of Pavel Curtis?" [on TV] Ken says, "we have yet to see 'Country' " [on TV] Ken says, "in honor of the founding father of all Moos.. " Flora Moon Lunar at DU 77 [on TV] Ken says, "Collegetown is run by a council of 7 citizens. They meet every week or so in City Hall to decide matters of application, quota, and building.." [on TV] Lunar says, "Do you sometimes bowl while you're meeting?" [on TV] Ken laffs, the bowling alley was a project by one of my computer science students who wrote th longest single verb ive ever seen.. 8 pages! [on TV] Ken says, "i had to give him a refresher course in modularity " [on TV] Lunar says, "One verb for strikes, spares and scratch?" [on TV] Ken nods, laffs.. and ascii pictures..! [on TV] Lunar says, "and scoring and shoes? " [on TV] idd says, "did it work though the 8 pages?" [on TV] Ken says, "yup, but then the moo crashed and he lost it all! he was heartbroken and i felt terrible.." [on TV] Lunar says, "Life in cyberspace..." [on TV] Ken says, "An important thing I've tried to accomplish here, btw, is to create a " [on TV] Ken says, "feeling of community.... Each of our members is encouraged to build.." [on TV] Ken says, "1) a house and 2) an office.... and the houses are to be fully connected so" [on TV] Ken says, "that we have residential communities and neighborhoods.." [on TV] Ken says, "we can put in a hard days work at the office or at school and then retire to our communities neighborhoolds for relaxation.." [on TV] Lunar says, "talk to me about the culture here at CT. There is a distinct one here isn't there?" [on TV] Ken says, "Yes, I like to believe there is.. We are insistent on theme related building and we advertise ourselves as a serious academic community.." [on TV] Ken says, "it is largely a matter of self selection.. we purposedly chose to remain small and rather obscure.. I have" Flora Moon Lunar at DU 78 [on TV] Ken says, "been very reticent to publish our address.. Most of us know each other and we ahave a strong cadre of 'founding fathers and mothers'.. to instill our vision in the new folks.." [on TV] Lunar says, "And what are the values engendered and exhibited here?" [on TV] Ken says, "this is by no means the only or best way to run a moo.. I fully appreciate the naturally evolving social format.." [on TV] Ken laffs, I would *like* to think that the shared values here are love of things scholarly, an appreciation for creative work, and a shared vision of utopian community buildintg.. but then again, maybe all thats just in my imagination ;) [on TV] Ken says, "we have some strict rules here such as: No weapons, No harassment.. etc.." [on TV] Ken says, "hi johnM, im being filmed for an interview.." [on TV] JohnM says, "hello. An interview for what?" [on TV] Lunar says, "When I was visiting earlier I notices a lot of helping going on, a real comaraderie and desire to build somthing together" [on TV] Ken says, "I do not wear blinders however, I realize that our good spirits here may be a simple accident" [on TV] . . .the camera zooms in on JohnM. . . [on TV] A cool, handsome, and fun guy to be around [on TV] Ken says, "of our relative youth... I have personally lived through several of the crisis " [on TV] Ken says, "fperiods that seem to fall on moos once they reach a certain size and popularity.." [on TV] JohnM says, "What crisis?" [on TV] idd says, "I have visited quite a few MOOs recently and do notice you are on quite a few of the Education ones, almost all, how long have you been Mooing? and which MOOs have influenced you?" [on TV] Ken [to idd]: I am a wiz at mediaMOO, bayMOO, Diversity University, and Collegetown.. [on TV] Ken says, "I learned to program at Lambdamoo 2 years ago.." [on TV] Ken says, "but i was unhappy at lambda.. I yearned to" [on TV] Ringer wanders in. . . Flora Moon Lunar at DU 79 [on TV] red_Guest wanders in. . . [on TV] Ken says, "apply this great technology to some more persistent and glorious goal " [on TV] JohnM says, "Hello everyone" [on TV] red_Guest smiles [on TV] Ringer waves hi [on TV] Ken says, "thats when i heard of mediamoo.. I fell in love with mm at first sight.." [on TV] Ken says, "i developed the cameras and other communication technology there and built a theater.. we had a great film fest last year with 15 art films entered.." [on TV] Ringer says, "this is irradiate a friend from tecfa " [on TV] Lunar says, "I love the cameras and other technology that you've built! In RL I am a filmmaker and the camera gives me a way to mavigate this world much as I do the other one" [on TV] Ken says, "but i yearned to have a moo of my own and experiment with my own ideas of ascii graphics, spatial orientation, and logical connectedness.." [on TV] red_Guest smiles hello [on TV] Ken [to Lunar]: thankyou! I have a friend and cowiz here PaulB aka ZenDream who is a film maker also.. [on TV] Ken greets red.. welcome, we are doing a filmed interview.. [on TV] red_Guest nods [on TV] Ken says, "shall we visit some wildreness areas..?" [on TV] Lunar says, "Maybe we should talk about your philosophy here. Tools, roomws like the collaboratory?" [on TV] Lunar says, "Or should we amove to the next place?" [on TV] Ken says, "the collaboratory is the work of Mahina..." [on TV] Ken says, "follow me, type UW to get to the underground walkway.." [on TV] Ken says, "by the riverside.." Flora Moon Lunar at DU 80 [on TV] Ken summons the Ferry Boat... [on TV] . . . the camera pans left to right over Riverside Estates . . . [on TV] You are on the access road to Riverside Estates.. All along the river you see houses being built. Summon Ferry for transportation to Babbage Island. [on TV] Ferry Boat goes <> [on TV] With a chug chug and a toot toot the Ferry Boat arrives... [on TV] Ken says, "look ferry" [on TV] Ken says, "enter ferry" [on TV] Ken hops onto the ferry... [on TV] Lunar drops betacam. [on TV] Ken says, "type out" [on TV] Ken hops off the ferry in true nautical fashion... [on TV] Outside: JohnM dives into the Turing River... [on TV] Ringer hops off the ferry in true nautical fashion... [on TV] idd hops off the ferry in true nautical fashion... [on TV] Lunar drops betacam. [on TV] Lunar turns on camera to begin recording. . . [on TV] Ken says, "ok.." [on TV] Ken drops Ascii Art. [on TV] . . .the camera zooms in on Ringer. . . [on TV] Ringer smiles .. [on TV] . . . the camera pans left to right over The Waterfall . . . [on TV] You are at the foot of a roaring Waterfall. You see a shimmering rainbow over the misty spray o o o o o [on TV] red_Guest says, "fun!" [on TV] Lunar nods in agreement! Flora Moon Lunar at DU 81 [on TV] Ringer grins and thinks of Yea's Crocko. [on TV] Ken says, "we have an ascii art gallery on the West Quad.. this is just a photo album.. in the library we have a bout a 100 other books.. all gopher interfaces.. the complet works of Shakespeare for example.." [on TV] idd says, "this is interesting you have a gopher here linked directly to CT?" [on TV] Ken says, "many of the books were written by Buena Vista College students.." [on TV] Park Ranger says, "[to idd] I hope you are enjoying your visit to our park areas!" [on TV] Ken grins idd, yes and interfaces to WWW thanks to ringer.. shall we go to the library? [on TV] Park Ranger says, "[to Ken] You are most welcome!" [on TV] . . . the camera pans left to right over library . . . [on TV] Ken says, "type: whole catalog to see our holdings.." [on TV] Ringer tiptoes in quietly from the Quad.... [on TV] red_Guest tiptoes in quietly from the Quad.... [on TV] Ken says, "type: whole catalog to see our holdings.." [on TV] Lunar consults Card Catalog . . . [on TV] idd consults Card Catalog . . . [on TV] red_Guest consults Card Catalog . . . [on TV] Ringer grins .. one of her favorite room. [on TV] Ken removes King James Bible from Bookshelf1. [on TV] Ken says, "we have to reset these books everynow and then, because when someone downloads Moby Dick to read it uses up quite a bit of data base storage.." [on TV] idd says, "Ringer, you have a fuzzi logic tutorial of ken's ?" [on TV] Ringer says, "oh.. yes.. " Flora Moon Lunar at DU 82 [on TV] Ringer drops Fuzzy Logic Tutorial. [on TV] Ringer says, "Actually i had mark retrieve it from lost and found .. " [on TV] Ringer is lagging badly [on TV] Ken drops Complete Works SHAKESPEARE. [on TV] Ken lags too.. [on TV] Ringer [to Ken]: which shelf should it go on. [on TV] Ken says, "we are checkpointing i think.." [on TV] Ken shrugs ringer, dunno.. [on TV] Ringer smiles [on TV] Ken says, "look complete works" [on TV] Ken nods ringer [on TV] Ringer thinks that CollegeTown is an InterMOOtional MOO [on TV] Ken says, "just 'look fuzzy' to read the fuzzy logic tutorial.. or anything else.." [on TV] idd says, "maybe this is also what we should do at other MOOs for beyond basic stuff" [on TV] Ken grins ringer [on TV] Ken consults Card Catalog . . . [on TV] Ringer says, "Ken collects folks from all over." [on TV] . . . the camera pans left to right over library . . . [on TV] idd says, " lagging here, forgot to ask you Ken about lambda and when you left for Media was that long ago, and were you there for a long time before starting Collegetown. well only 2 yrs, but many moos started in the same period I think." [on TV] red_Guest is back [on TV] idd says, "I guess I am looking for some chronology, and reasons. Was media started long before you got there?" Flora Moon Lunar at DU 83 [on TV] Ken drops A Rape in CyberSpace. [on TV] Ringer says, "may i reset fuzzy?" [on TV] idd says, " oh the village voice article, it was at DU once. " [on TV] Ken says, "we seem to be experienceing a sever lag problem.. wonder whats happening.." [on TV] Ken says, "i was at mediaMoo for about a year before starting collegetown.. i joined the wiz team there and learned a lot of valuable lessons in administration.." [on TV] Ken says, "AT lambda previously i was a typical newbie.. i programmed all sorts of weird, even antisocial toys, and showed off a lot.. was frequently accused of spamming.. im not proud of my early moo days " [on TV] Ken says, "no, media when i joined only had a hundered or so players if I recall.. i was, i think, the first wizard not from mit.." ------------------------------------------------------------------ Author: Lunar at DU