Resources page

Join a vibrant global community of creative people!
The Tech Virtual is using virtual worlds and the web to connect some of the most talented people in the world today. To help get oriented, get details, materials and skills, we invite you to join us online at any of our meetings during the week:

Second Life Main Grid:
Tuesday:        Office Hours and FAQ         10AM PST   Location: http://tinyurl.com/TheTech2-Office
Wednesday:   Exhibit design workshop       2PM PST    Location: http://tinyurl.com/TheTech2-class
Thursday:       Exhibit design workshop      2PM PST    Location: http://tinyurl.com/TheTech2-class
Friday:            Designers' open meeting    10AM PST Location: http://tinyurl.com/TheTech2-Office

Second Life Teen Grid:
Tuesday: Office Hours and FAQ 4PM PST Location: The Tech TG sim
Thursday: Designers' open meeting 4PM PST Location: The Tech TG sim

http://thetechvirtual.org/help/faq/what-is-the-current-schedule-for-meetings-and-classes

Resources and tools for building, prototyping, museum exhibit use.

Itemized "fill in the blank" and checklist for exhibit design:

* Design Checklist http://thetechvirtual.org/projects/resources/list-of-exhibit-components

Get assistance with your project or apply your expertise to an existing project:

* Help Wanted List: http://thetechvirtual.org/helpwanted

Virtual World resources:
* Download Second Life client: http://secondlife.com/support/downloads.php
* Free prototyping space at our Second Life location: http://tinyurl.com/TheTech2-class

Exhibit resources:
* Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC): http://www.astc.org/resource/exhibits/index.htm
* Paul Orselli: http://www.orselli.net/sources.htm

Educational content modules:
*Open Educational Resources: http://www.oercommons.org/

* Open Source textbooks:

http://www.opensourcetext.org/

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/COSTP_World_History_Project

                                                   http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/

3D Modeling:
   * Second Life: http://secondlife.com/support/downloads.php
     * Google Sketchup: http://sketchup.google.com/
     * Wings 3D: http://www.wings3d.com/
     * Blender: http://www.blender.org/ Blender export to Second Life: http://www.blender.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11736
     * Second Life sculpted prims software tools: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Sculpted_Prims:_3d_Software_Guide
     * Further Second Life import/export methods: http://archsl.wordpress.com, via http://visibuild3d.com/

Museum-friendly website building:
* Omeka: Enables you to create complex narratives and share rich collections adhering to Dublin core (http://dublincore.org/) standards with Omeka, designed for scholars, museums, libraries, archives, and enthusiasts.http://omeka.org/

Graphics:
     * Gimp: http://www.gimp.org/
     * Paint.net: http://www.download.com/Paint-NET/3000-2192_4-10338146.html
     * Multiple tools: http://aviary.com/tools
     * Processing: JAVA based language for visualizing complex interactions http://processing.org/

Music:
* Pure Data: A graphical programming language for the creation of interactive computer music and multimedia works.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pure_Data Commerical Version: http://www.cycling74.com/products/max5

Flowcharts:
     * Gliffy: http://www.gliffy.com/
     * LovelyCharts: http://lovelycharts.com/
     * Autodesk draw: http://draw.labs.autodesk.com/ADDraw/draw.html
     * Flowchart.com: http://www.flowchart.com/

Real-time Collaboration:
     * Twiddla.com: http://www.twiddla.com/

Programming:

* Alice (drag and drop animation) http://www.alice.org

* Multitouch software (MAC): http://lericson.blogg.se/code/2009/november/multitouch-on-unibody-macbooks.html

GIS and Mapping resources: Use these open-source tools to add mapping features to an exhibit.

* OpenJUMP http://www.openjump.org/wiki/show/HomePage

* OpenStreetMap.org http://www.openstreetmap.org

Internet of things: Open source sensors and distributed devices.

* Sunspots http://www.sunspotworld.com/

Design help:
     * Universal Design guidelines: http://www.design.ncsu.edu/cud/about_ud/udprincipleshtmlformat.html
     * List of thought processes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_thought_processes
     * Usability: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability
     * Modes of Learning: Auditory, Kinesthetic, Visual
             http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditory_learning
             http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinesthetic_learning
             http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_learning

** Suggest a link for this topic: http://thetechvirtual.org/help/contact-info

NEW to The Tech Virtual: Open Source Software resources

In 2009 we began indexing and analyzing software resources (particularly open source), for use by museums.
What resources do you need at your museum? Click here to contact us - let us know, and we can utilize the Tech Virtual network to help.