> PPS: The target audience of G1G1 was kids, many of whom seem to be in > thrall to the webkinz.com brightly colored pyramid scheme. Here's an > excerpt from one support ticket, after they installed Adobe Flash with > help from a techie friend, but didn't figure out how to uninstall > gnash: "No resolution. I am waiting and hoping you can get someone to > 'add a very simple walk-through', as you have stated below. My > daughter does not want to use her XO since she is unable to get into > Webkins and Learning Today." I tried it; the homepage works, but > clicking "New Member" leads to a Flash "Loading..." page that never > goes away. If this is a Flash version issue, hey, how about Gnash putting > up a message about *that* very common problem, too?
I had no idea what the heck you were talking about, but according to the Wikipedia page, < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webkins >, the way it seems to work is that you buy a stuffed dog and you get a code for the website with it, this gives you one year's subscription. Inside the website you get a Flash animation which represents a 'virtual pet' which runs around and you can interact with it at some level. The kids then nag their parents to get them virtual accessories for these pets. I think in the developing world they will more likely to have brothers and sisters and extended family and things, so the demand may be lower for virtual pets, and they will not be able to afford the subscription anyway. However, I think the solution is not for Gnash or the OLPC to support these proprietary virtual pets, but to provide free software virtual pets, preferably using Etoys, Python or Gnash so that it will be consistent with the OLPC system. Perhaps it could be some kind of educational activity, e.g. teaching some basic issues about animal welfare, veterinary studies, biology, etc. It could be far cooler than webkins as it could use the mesh networking so all the virtual pets could meet each other and interact (fight?, reproduce?, spread infections?). If anyone has any idea how this could work, do let me know. I know Python but have no art or animation skills at all but it might be a fun idea. Best Wishes, Zeth
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