The ABC Word Puzzle Solution

I’ve had my mind of a load of things lately and haven’t revealed the solution to the ABC word puzzle, well, it’s finally here, enjoy.

Wolfie!

That ABC Word Puzzle

So you’ve heard about my word puzzle have you?

Turn back, it’s far too hard, you’ll never finish it.

Oh, it came with a list of words contained within the puzzle… but I cut that off.

… I heard that.

I will publish the Names and Words next week.

* Feel free to download and print out.

Wolfie!

#WolfieTU Tweetup

A tweetup is defined as a twitter users get together, usually in a local area.

The general idea would be to gather a set of people who you regularly talk to, who live close by, or who might be in the area visiting, and meet at a pub, a gallery or a park for instance.

Now the world is a lot smaller because of the way we communicate online, and although we may chat to friends in Amsterdam, Stockholm, Tokyo, New York or Hobart, it’s obviously going to be really difficult to get those people in the same place, at the same time, in a real life setting, although that would be very desirable.

So what I’m proposing is to have a global tweetup in Second life, possibly next week.

Second life is a virtual reality meeting place, and in my opinion is more Social Media than a game, some disagree, but whatever position you hold, the fact remains that people do meet there and talk.

Why we’d use Second life is because you can have multiple people in one space, possibly twenty or so, and use voice.

It sounds as though if we had twenty people all talking at once, then conversation would become very difficult to follow, but not really. Being in Second life is a bit like being at a party, it’s only the people that you are standing near who can be heard clearly, so by mixing in and moving around, voices fade in and out just like in real life.

Since the feedback on Twitter was positive, I think we should try it out.

But I would like to get a few things sorted out first, namely a suitable day, and a suitable time.

Some time towards the end of the week would probably best, Thursday, Friday or Satuday night, possibly around nine in the evening, Melbourne time. (+10 AEST).

Those who would like to try this out and hear the voices of those who they tweet with, should create a Second life account as soon as possible, please don’t leave it till the last minute as the software does take a while to download and install, and then there’s an awkward bit as you suddenly try to come to grips with unfamiliar software… don’t be too worried as I can help you with this when we’re there.

We will naturally enough, be using ABC Island as the location.

Secondlife registration and software is available here and is completely free of charge. (Mac/PC/Linux)

If you have questions, you can ask here or tweet with #WolfieTU

Getting a Job

My dream job is to work with the ABC, but there are complications, firstly I’ve never had a paying job, so I really don’t know what to expect. The idea of going for a payed job feels something like being lead to a cliff, blindfolded and asked to take a “leap of faith” (and as I’m an atheist, that’s a hard ask).

I have filled my time either with education or voluntary jobs.

What I wanted to do most of all at high-school was to work in radio, and I did get to act out my wish at a community station in Melton, Victoria called RIM-FM (now 979FM). I was there for three years, I ran a two hour music program twice a week and also did some background work, such as writing CSAs or any material which needed to be scripted. I also edited lots of tape. A skill I learnt from a small amount of time at the School of Audio Engineering at St. Kilda.

Illness stopped me from going further, so I dropped out and waited a few years, and found that I felt better… so I decided to do a course in Shiatsu Massage which lasted two years, this was my new age hippy stage, which I can’t knock because I needed something at a relaxed pace which I could handle.

After this I took on another voluntary position with Friends of the (Melbourne) zoo, and liked this, but my health took another dive a few months later.

People who know me would know of my battle with cancer, in myself and with family members.

So I have been on the disability pension for some time, I don’t go out much, just to shop and walk my dog, then I come home and rest.

So the internet has become very important for me as a way to socialise and be involved with things.

I began using it in the 90′s via my Amiga computer, so have seen a lot of changes from then till now.

In the last few years I have been assisting ABC on a voluntary basis on their Secondlife island, acting as a greeter to the public, building it’s structure, producing a live game show for the visitors, and making sure that it runs smoothly from a technical perspective.

The island is a project of ABC Innovation in Sydney, Abigail E. Thomas is in charge there.

I am also a very keen Facebook user, My page almost resembles an online newspaper as I like to add links to the important stories of the day, and to interesting videos or images (photos and comics). However I don’t play facebook games.

Twitter is something I have also found worthwhile, I enjoy reading tweets from the people I follow, who are usually media people. Often this is where I discover links to the news stories which I use on Facebook, Crediting the finder or writer of the story as I add the links.

My technical skills include:

Basic computer use: PC, Mac and iPhone, I can also do some limited maintenance.

Basic Photoshop skills, which I’ve used for Secondlife, Various blogs and Twitter.

Basic Adobe Premiere and Sony Vegas skills (Video Editing) the results can be viewed at my Youtube page.

I recommend watching the “Win a Secondlife Avatar” promotional video, Featuring use of a virtual world, Filming of a virtual world, Video Editing, Video Effects and Soundtrack editing.

And also “Step out of the Shade” A music video I made, using the same techniques as mentioned above.

I can edit sound recordings in various sound editing programs and produce and publish a podcast.

I also have reasonable photography skills, I’m familiar with DSLR use and HDV camcorder use.

I have completed a documentary with December Films called “Alter Ego” about users of Secondlife which was produced for SBS, and Have a very small credit in the Australian Feature Film, “Beautiful Kate”.

My limitations mean that although I could occasionally make it to a location, I would far rather work from home if possible and e-mail in any work which needs doing.

I am exceedingly comfortable using the internet, and not quite as comfortable with the real world.

I am an unusual but friendly character, who has a loyal and caring nature, if you can take my oddity, I consider myself a furry, then perhaps we can come up with a plan?

Now, I don’t have the highest opinion of myself, however, if you think that by looking at what I’ve written here, that I may be capable of what you require, then just send a tweet to @Wolfie_Rankin.

Also, I’m pretty broke, My house is falling to bits and I need some help to get out of this hole.

Wolfie!

Countdown Experience

I had an idea a few days ago about Countdown,
the 70s/80′s pop music show that ran in Australia on the ABC

Imagine that you could go back in time, with recent camera and sound
equipment, or better, perhaps you come from the future.

So you do this, and your objective is to make recordings, perhaps for
historic reasons, of the tv shows of the 20th century, your project
is Countdown.

Perhaps we can, in a way.

I’ve watched “Life on mars” and “Ashes to Ashes” which dealt with roughly the same time frame, and was impressed with all the details.

It would be easier to fool me with an Elizabethan setting, as I am
not that old, nor have I been to England, but I know, and I dare say
that most of us here remember the 70s very well.

What if we had a total re-creation of Countdown?

We have actors playing the parts, we have to, because none of the
stars of the show look the same as they did back in 1975.

But we have the original music, yes it would be mimed to, but then
bands always mimed their songs on the show, so it doesn’t really matter.

(guitars were often, noticeably not plugged in)

And what about behind the curtain, fly on the wall moments with agitated performers, some of them calm, some annoyed, others throwing up. I mean, there has to be tales from people who were there who saw
things and heard things.

So what I’m suggesting is that we get our heads together and come up
with a one hour, one off, experimental television program which looks
as authentic as humanly possible. a genuine labour of love.

Now, Hey Hey came back because someone started a facebook page which
encouraged people to join up and talk about the show, so I’ve done the same.

If you’re on Facebook, and the idea appeals to you, please join me
There and let’s see how far we can push this idea.

Countdown Experience on Facebook

Also, if we can get it moving, I will be tweeting the progress of the programs development via
@Air_Digital.

Wolfie!

Countdown is copyright ABC

ABC Island Open Day

You may have heard about Secondlife, The virtual world. and you may have also heard that ABC has a space there which is visited by people from every country on Earth

You may have been tempted to try it yourself, or have done so in the past and simply got lost… I will admit that coming in alone can be daunting as a new visitor needs all the help that they can get, not from an on screen menu, but directly from the mouths of real people, who have used Secondlife for years, and would be more than happy to welcome you and give you a hand.

So, This Saturday, We’ll be having an open Day on ABC Island, from 7pm, Melbourne Time.

Secondlife is an amazing way to gather together with friends and chat about anything for as long as you like, I frequently talk to friends in the US, the UK, Canada and other countries, and with friends from other states with Secondlife. it’s a brilliant social network, and the added visuals can be a lot of fun, and also really useful… you’ll be surprised by what you can do with Secondlife, you’re only limited by your imagination.

To begin, you need to sign up at the Secondlife website and download the free viewer, a kind of web browser for Secondlife. I’ll explain some of the cool things that the viewer will let you do once you arrive at ABC Island.

It comes in Windows, Mac and Linux varieties. (Click here). The browser is roughly 80megs, so be prepared for a fairly large download, however installation is quick, painless and free.

If you have a headset, make sure it’s plugged in now… However if you don’t have one, don’t fret, it’s not essential.

Once you have installed the Secondlife browser (or viewer, as it’s known), sign in with your name and password and hit the little green button. Give the viewer about a minute to log you in and you’ll find yourself on an island, probably with lots of others. Now typically these islands are slow and difficult to move around in… and the idea is to get you to ABC Island.

So the next step is to get you out of there.

This is how you do it.

At the top right of the viewer,
you’ll notice a space which looks like this ( search ) click it and seach for me, Wolfie Rankin.

Wolfie Rankin should appear in green text at the top of the list, click my name and a different box will appear with three green buttons.

“Offer Teleport”, “IM” and “Profile”

Choose “IM” (Instant Message)

And Say “Hi Wolfie, I’d like to visit you and ABC Island, Could you please send me a taxi?”
(You can cut and paste that if you like, or be creative, it’s up to you).

And I’ll respond as soon as I can, but if I don’t respond straight away, please just wait for a while…
I might be on the phone, the cat could be coughing up a furball, the cake might have exploded in the oven… you never know, things happen right when they’re not wanted.

Anyway, when I do respond, a box will appear on your screen, something to do with teleportation, accept the invitation and seconds later you’ll find yourself standing on ABC Island, Next to an orange wolf with a blue mohawk and a t-shirt with the same wolf logo as on this page… yes that’s me, Wolfie Rankin.

From there, we’ll just have a friendly chat, and I’ll help to explain how things work in Secondlife.

If you like Secondlife, then you can come back at anytime to visit us, and you’ll learn more and more about how it works, and of course you could find some real friends who you may meet at some stage, face to face, in real life as I have.

I hope that your stay in virtual space will be a good one, all the best.

Wolfie!

BTW: If you have any questions at all, please ask below and I’ll try to answer as soon as possible.
you can also ask me on twitter at @Wolfie_Rankin or use the hashtag #ABCisland.