United Spinal Association has launched a travel service in Second Life for travelers with disabilities.
ABLE to Travel in Second Life provides links to knowledgeable travel agents that have dealt with all types of issues that a traveler using a wheelchair or who has limited mobility may encounter during his or her trip, including accessible transportation to and from the airport, stowage of wheelchairs or other mobility equipment on board an aircraft, accessible hotel accommodations, and access to medical equipment.
Internet and computer consultant, Jerry Madsen of Madsen Consulting, has a team of experts hustling in Second Life (SL) to prepare several virtual luxury automobile dealerships for their grand opening.
During a charity benefit for the United Spinal Association to be held in SL on Saturday, March 29th, Madsen will unveil the results of his extensive efforts to bring select automobile dealerships to the forefront of this increasingly popular virtual universe. Brands currently represented through Madsen’s SL dealerships are Lexus, Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Infiniti, Porsche, Saab, Bentley, Lamborghini and Bugatti.
The United Spinal Association’s charity venue includes SLASCAR racing, a fashion show, dancing and tours of Motorability Island’s attractions such as the United Spinal Welcome Center. Madsen’s SL dealerships will have their SL grand opening as they roll out the SL red carpet for charity event attendees.
“We are proud to be supporting an excellent organization and their noble cause, while introducing luxury automobiles through this exciting medium that allows consumers to enjoy a three dimensional commerce experience from the comfort of their homes,” Madsen said.
Cars! A passion, a hobby, and a culture. It all comes together for Second Life residents on Motorability Island in Second Life.
United Spinal Association’s 7-sim Motorability Island, formerly Pontiac’s Motorati Island, is set for its grand opening on Saturday the 29th of March - however it’s open to the public now. Fashion Cars and Avatars is the theme for the event.
All proceeds go to UnitedSpinal.org.
Event proceeds, sales of goods and services from commercial enterprise and sponsorships will contribute to raise awareness and provide funding to support United Spinal Association programs in the virtual and real world.
Donate at designated donation kiosks in Second Life on Motorability Island or go online here to donate directly to UnitedSpinal.org : http://www.unitedspinal.org/motorability
Sponsors interested in supporting UnitedSpinal.org in Second Life can contact Jody DeVere at jdevere@askpatty.com
9am PDT Fashion Show at the Callie Cline Beach Resort featuring caLLie cLine & kiana dulce designs and done by the Aspire modeling agency.
10am PDT Racing at SLASCAR Official Fairgrounds Speedway
11am - 12pm PDT Dancing at the Parkade Nightclub and the United Spinal Upper Deck Dance Floor
All day tours of the United Spinal Welcome Center, Motorability Springs Automotive Education Center, Wonderland Cardin and many other sites on Motorability Island.
What Everyone Needs To Know About Spinal Cord Injury & Disorder
United Spinal Association now offers What Is SCI/D?, a new three page online pamphlet that is a general introduction to spinal cord injury and other disorders and diseases that affect the spinal cord.
Besides spinal cord injury, What Is SCI/D? provides general information about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple sclerosis (MS), post-polio, spina bifida, transverse myelitis, and syringomyelia. To download a copy of What Is SCI/D?, please go to WHAT IS SCID.
Slightly more than one million persons in the United States are living with these injuries and diseases. Approximately 250,000 individuals have a traumatic spinal cord injury while there are more than 400,000 persons with MS. There are about 200,000 post-polio survivors and at least 100,000 people who have battled syringomyelia. Some 70,000 Americans are living with spina bifida today and at any given time it is estimated that 30,000 individuals have ALS.
Paul J. Tobin, President and CEO of the United Spinal Association, stated that "what is a spinal cord injury or disorder is our most frequently-asked question, not just from individuals with these conditions but also from members of the public. A big part of our mission is education, so understanding your injury or disease is an important step for an individual in the rehabilitative process. But, knowledge about spinal cord injury and other conditions of the spine fosters prevention and acceptance among the general public."
United Spinal Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for all Americans with spinal cord injuries or disorders. For over 60 years, we have fought for veteran’s rights and for the rights of all individuals with disabilities.
Our initiatives in research and education, government policy and legislation, civil rights and advocacy, accessibility and architectural design, and competitive athletics ensure that veterans and all Americans with spinal cord injury and disease live healthier, more independent and productive lives as active members of their communities. For more information, please visit http://www.unitedspinal.org or call (800) 404-2898.
About UnitedSpinal.org Motorability Island
Motorability Island in SecondLife is a vast, 7 sim complex designed specifically to promote United Spinal Association in Second Life, via the Education Center and other builds dotted around the Island.
We, along with the United Spinal Motorsports Program are complete car freaks, so you’ll also find loads of really cool stuff to do with a car around here too. We’ve got 2 full oval circuits, a full inter-sim road system, car themed nightclub with live DJs, go-kart racing, car dealerships, scooter shack and the rather cool AskPatty.com center too, which offers automotive advice for women, from some of the top women in the US automotive industry.
There are also several other exciting builds planned, such as an education center for wannabe SecondLife vehicle designers, a drag strip and a drift track.
United Spinal sim is just one part of Motorability Island, but there’s a lot to do there!
Have a quick tour of the main United Spinal complex - numbered in this photograph to help you find your way.
Getting Around
Remember - in Second Life you can fly, but for those who choose an alternate method, walkways and teleporters give quick access to the different areas. To teleport, left-click (”touch”) the blue ball atop the teleporter sign.
A blue menu will drop down from your upper right screen giving places in the complex you can go to.
Pick one, then right-click the blue ball and “teleport,” from the pie menu. It sounds more complicated than it is.
Tour The Complex
#1 A faceted pod that is used to give information about United Spinal Association and includes a podcast lounge where you can listen to ACTION Magazine. Wheelies, a place for friends and fun, is represented here with a landmark giver.
#2 is a meeting area above a waterfall. In comfortable and beautiful surroundings we can get together to share experiences, information, and knowledge.
#3 If you see the video-viewing platforms.
Each screen is set up with a different short video that you can view by sitting in a chair and clicking “play” on the lower right media control on your user interface .
Make sure you have media enabled (Preferences -> Audio and Video -> Play Streaming Media When Available). Second Life uses QuickTime, so having the latest version on your computer is necessary.
Tip:If you want to change you sitting position, left-click (”touch”) the chair.
After you watch a few videos you’ll notice some have been created in Second Life - “machinima” is the term used for video created inside a 3d virtual environment.
If you’ve always dreamed of making movies now’s your chance! Using software such as Fraps (there’s a free version but the full version is about $30), you can make movies about almost anything. Check out YouTube machinima if you don’t believe me!
I’ve put some basic information about making machinima in a clickable button next to every video screeN. If you make a movie - especially one relevent to Motorability - I’d love to see it.
#4 is sheer fun - a video kaleidescope you watch while floating in an inner tube. Here’s how to do it: the dome is “phantom” so you can fly into it easily - but choosing “Video Kaleidescope” from the teleporter menu, then teleporting, will get you there fast.
Once inside you will see a floating sign telling you to touch for a free inner tube. Touch - left-click - the sign, then find the inner tube in your inventory. “Wear” it by right-clicking on it in your inventory, or dragging it onto yourself.
Tip:The “recent” tab makes finding new things easy.
Once you are floating, turn on your video controls and look up.
If you exit the video-viewing area just paddle back in and restart the controls. I invented a game called “Inner Tube Sumo.” Get friends together and try to push each other out of the dome. It’s guaranteed to give you a good laugh!
#5 is a sweet little tropical island. Chill out in a free swimsuit by lounging near the water with a coconut drink.
#6 is what I call the Dance Ship - a spaceship with special crystals that enable you to dance when you touch them. Remember to turn on your music! Each crystal has a different dance so if you don’t like one try another.
Enjoy the United Spinal complex - and the entire Motorability Island. It’s for you. If you have suggestions - and this is a work in progress, as all of life is - be sure to let us know.
We just posted the calendar of events for Motorability Island in Second Life. It’s a hit lineup of fun, partying, information, and cars cars cars…
Here is a small sampling of events and activities scheduled in March:
Caffeine and Cars at Ask Patty and talk about motor sports, cars, and anything automotive!
Overdrive session with Miss Cyberpink? SL’s first lady of the decks is known for her fashion as much as the music, which comes in all shapes and sizes. Expect to hear electro, breaks, old school, trance, mashups, drum n’ bass, industrial, nu-metal and a lot more.
Wonderland Carden and Underground Resistance present a monthly event for all petrolheads out there… Whether you’re into the chrome n’ flames hot rods, down n’ dirty rat rods, tricked out lowriders, classic cruisers, US muscle cars or hot tuned imports, this is the event for you.
Come on down to Dirtfields Raceway for the SLASCAR Midnight Madness event!!! Thrills, spills and all the action you can handle.
My corner of the car culture is somewhere in the 60’s. I found it on the wide out of the way boulevards of New York City.
Saturday night and the strips roared to the sound of tuned pipes challenged only by the blasting of tuned in AM rock-n-roll. The streets were full of cool cars but the muscle cars owned the nighttime streets. A circus of colors with streetlights illuminating the simonized metal of the not yet classic Pontiac GTO, Chevelle SS, Dodge Charger, Olds 442, Buick GS, and many other soon to be muscle car classics.
The burger and malt were the reigning king and queen of the drive-in food joints and cute car-hops were their handmaidens. Your best girl sat alongside of you and managed to talk, sip a strawberry malt, and pop chewing gum. All at the same time! The rhythm of the pipe concerto emanating from the rows of parked muscle cars with engines turned permanently on set the mood. Hey, gas was 27 cents per gallon.
I drove a cool soon to be classic but certainly not a muscle car back then. A 1966 Ford Mustang convertible. Get this- I picked it up used, in mint condition, with 26,000 miles on it for the then tidy sum of $450.00. They were for sale all over the place and anyone like me who had a job stocking shelves could afford a used one.
Part of my car culture experience was virtual even then. Long before home computers and the internet. It was called a dream, and the dream was to own a Pontiac GTO. The dream never came true but the culture is still with me. I can’t help stopping to look when I see a restored muscle car go by and I can still hear them rumble every time I bite into a burger.
The island will provide an opportunity for United Spinal Association members to experience car culture related virtual events, activities, community building, educational seminars and pure racing fun on the many original venues and race tracks re-opening in early February. Event proceeds, sales of goods and services from commercial enterprise and sponsorships will contribute to raise awareness and provide funding to support United Spinal Association programs in the virtual and real world.
Visit us in Second Life here SLURL to location: Check it out.
There’s going to be lots going on at the Island. Things to do and things to learn with lots more planned for down the road. Be sure to sign up for updates on Motorability happenings and events.
It’s amazing how a dream can mix with some desire to make super things happen. Motorability was one of those happenings.
Some well earned thanks go out to Pontiac for their generous donation of so valuable a Second Life propety. A super thanks to Jody DeVere (Patty Streeter in SL), President of AskPatty.com – automotive advice for women, and a member of the board of directors of the United Spinal Association. She had the dream and took off with it catching the rest of us up in her slipstream. Paul Tobin, President of United Spinal who high geared the United Spinal crew and kept things moving forward on our end.
To all of the well wishers for their encouragement. And a very special tip-o-the-hat to our United Spinal members for reminding us that there are more ways than we realized to have fun, and cultures other than disability ones to be a part of.
ABLE to Travel in Second Life provides links to knowledgeable travel agents that have dealt with all types of issues that a traveler using a wheelchair or who has limited mobility may encounter during his or her trip, including accessible transportation to and from the airport, stowage of wheelchairs or other mobility equipment on board an aircraft, accessible hotel accommodations, and access to medical equipment. 
United Spinal Association’s 7-sim Motorability Island, formerly Pontiac’s Motorati Island, is set for its grand opening on Saturday the 29th of March - however it’s open to the public now. Fashion Cars and Avatars is the theme for the event. 
.
Tip: If you want to change you sitting position, left-click (”touch”) the chair. 
