Those of you who watched the Congressional hearing on virtual worlds last month will recall a short machinima video that was shown at the beginning of the hearing. I just got work that the video is available online at the Silver and Goldie website. Really amazing work by machinimators Silver and Goldie (with additional footage…
Month: April 2008
Defining virtual worlds – help!
I am working on a short definition of virtual worlds for an educational audience. Here’s what I have so far: In a nutshell, virtual worlds are computer-generated, persistent, three-dimensional, multi-user spaces, where people interact with each other and the environment through their "avatars." Some examples of virtual worlds are Second Life, Whyville, World of Warcraft…
Cherry Blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens
My friends Swifty, Rafi, Jessica and I converged on the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens very early this morning to catch the magnificent cherry blossoms in peak bloom, before the madding crowds converge this weekend for the Sakura Matsuri festival. It was a lot colder and rainier than we would have liked. But nonetheless it was awesome…
Internship Notice: USC virtual paid internships available
Shawna at the USC Network Culture Project sent around a call for interested students to participate in a paid summer internship in Second Life. Sounds like a great opportunity for an undergrad or graduate student interested in virtual worlds: The USC Network Culture Project at the Annenberg School for Communication is accepting applications for undergraduate…
Non-profits in SL: Glitteractica & Randall Moss speaking at Metanomics today
My friend Glitteractica Cookie of Techsoup.org (pictured above) and Randall Moss of the American Cancer Society will be speaking today at the popular "Metanomics" talk show in Second Life from 11-12PM PST. The event will take place on Muse Arena on Muse Isle, and filmed and streamed live on SLCN.tv. Check the full event entry…
Dino5: Hip-hop for babies
Check out this ill video for the kid’s hip-hop group the Dino5. This is some serious mad cuteness. Almost makes me wish I had a kid to play this for him / her. Ah hell, I’ll just get it for myself. Dino5 features : MC T-Rex : aka the incomparable Chali 2na of Jurassic 5!…
Atalanta hip-hop band AFAR performing free concert at Lincoln Center this Saturday!
For the past few months I’ve had in frequent rotation on my iTunes the album by Atlanta-based hip-hop band AFAR. As far as I’m concerned, AFAR has got the complete package with tight melodies, clever MCing, driving beats, and live instrumentation. They even have a political conscience — check this song they did on the…
Second Life Real Estate people wanted
I have a friend who writes for a New York newspaper looking for people who work in Second Life real estate (ideally in the New York-area) to interview this week for an article. If you are interested and available, contact me at rik @rikomatic.com. Thanks, kids!
Brooklyn Museum’s Japan obsession?
So I just found out that the May 3rd "First Saturday" program at the Brooklyn Museum will again focus on the arts and culture of Japan. This immediately follows their April "First Saturday" program, which also focused on Japan, particularly anime art. So Brooklyn Museum has chosen to focus on Japan for two months in…
“The Trade Show”: international justice and art as political expression
Last night I serendipitously encountered this performance art piece in the Arts District of Chicago called “The Tradeshow.” A moving and critical artistic commentary on the garment industry, it provided unexpected closure to the international justice conference I had been at for the past two days at DePaul University.