As many of you may know, FireSabre had announced an upcoming virtual world product designed exclusively for the needs of educators and non-profits. We are happy to inform you that we are now officially accepting applications for the closed beta that will begin shortly. We're also pleased to announce that closed beta members will be eligible for special rates.

Applications are limited to individual educators, educational institutions, non-profits and NGOs, and governmental institutions (outreach and education programs in particular). To apply, simply sign up at closed beta sign-up.

It has been a turbulent few months for the educational and non-profit community when it comes to virtual worlds, with many changes — from the closing of the Teen Second Life® grid to the discontinuation of educational discounts for the Second Life® virtual world by Linden Lab.

However, we believe that the educational applications and possibilities of virtual worlds are just beginning. With the launch of what we are initially dubbing the "Starlight Education Space", we at FireSabre Consulting — a firm focused on working with educators and non-profits to use virtual worlds — are in a position to help transform that potential into reality. Starlight is an education-focused grid aimed at schools, museums and other educationally-oriented non-profits. It will also provide a home for those dedicated individual educators who have used their own resources to create virtual world resources for their students and other learners.

"Starlight" is based on the open-source OpenSim technology. Therefore, while we will be hosting and supporting this grid, our users will have the ease-of-mind knowing that the content and infrastructure is not at the mercy of a single provider. However, as a member of the Starlight community, educators will also have access to a developer who has specialized in serving education and non-profits and a team of people who are responsible for some of the most innovative, artistic and usable sites created for open virtual worlds.

Because this virtual world grid is focused on education and enrichment, we believe Starlight is an opportunity to develop a virtual world with a rich and varied community, but one that is safe, rewarding and learner-centric.

Features of Starlight Education Space will be:

• Hosting of 256m x 256m high-performance regions able to handle a full complement of objects, scripts and visitors at tier fees of around $60/mo. (well under the original Second Life® educational pricing).


• Options for quarter or half regions.


• Options for high-performance regions that can hold two or more regions' worth of objects and large numbers of avatars.


• Ability to connect to a grid-wide transportation system


• Pre-made "campus parks" maintained and supported directly by FireSabre. These will allow users without the need for a full region (or even quarter region) to affordably collaborate and host learners in a well-designed space with rich content and professionally-developed infrastructure.


• Content and access management tools that assist the educators to decide what is appropriate or desirable for their students.


• A-la-carte and packages for items such as 24-hour support subscriptions, technical assistance and consulting — allowing you to tailor the options to your requirements.
• Content migration service to help educators with existing content in Second Life® adapt their site to the OpenSim platform. This can be straight transfer of materials and testing functionality or it can include aesthetic/design and functionality upgrades.

We look forward to collaborating with you on both our beta program and on the future of the Starlight Education Space upon release to create a great resource for educators, non-profits and learners alike. With your input and participation in the beta process, we feel confident we can create the best educational virtual world possible.

Regards,

Fred Fuchs,
President
FireSabre Consulting
(713) 429-1750, Option 2
info AT firesabre.com