Last Friday, Global Kids held its Annual Conference at Baruch College, gathering 600-some students and educators from around New York City to examine critical social issues, meet each other, and get activated. This year's theme was "Global Health — Be the Vaccine," featuring speakers and workshops on a wide variety of health-related topics. An important…
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An interesting proposition: Let’s make a baby together
Let's say that I know this guy who has a really interesting choice to make. This guy is friends with a very sweet lesbian couple. The couple calls the guy over the weekend and make him a proposition: they would like him to be the biological father of their child. The guy learns that it's…
Get your “Tiny Nation” tee-shirts, tea cozies and other tchotchkes here!
Fans of the machinima series "Tiny Nation" will be happy to know that you can now purchase all sorts of "Tiny Nation"-branded clothing and merchandise from Ill Clan Studios. For those that haven't seen the show, it's the story of a cute but profane group of backyard animals who stage various unsuccessful rebellions against their…
Virtual malcontent sends me a real pie: Thanks, Crap Mariner!
Today after lunch I had a piece of delicious pecan pie generously provided by infamous Second Life resident Mr. Crap Mariner. He might be cranky, rude, and opinionated in the virtual world, but he was kind enough to send me for no particular reason his favorite pecan pie all the way from Houston to New…
“Aha!” moments in virtual education: my talk at the VW Best Practices Conference (video)
Last Saturday I had the honor of presenting at the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference about the work of Global Kids and some of the lessons we have been learning about how to best use virtual worlds for education and learning. The multi-day conference took place in Second Life, appropriately enough given the…
The Shim Sham… now in 3D! (video)
Ok, I am sure that my non-dancer friends are sick to death of all of these bloody Shim Sham videos. This is the last one (perhaps) that I'm posting, because it's so stinkin' cool! That's right, it's the Shim Sham, rendered in 3D, by those amazing folks at the Jam Cellar in DC. Here's how…
Balancing spoken messages and silence in Quaker Meeting for Worship
"Unprogrammed" Quaker Meetings for Worship, for those that have never been, can be briefly described as 60 minutes of corporate silent meditation interspersed with occasional spoken "messages" from someone in the congregation. It's the most "crowd-sourced" church service there is. Every Friend has their own personal sense of what is the best balance of spoken…
Roller Derby action: Gotham Girls trounce Boston at LIU tonight (video)
Good times at Gotham Girls roller derby at Long Island University tonight. It was a double-header event, well worth the $19 cover charge. The friendly crowd was packed to capacity in the auditorium, cheering madly for the New York teams and shouting out the names of their favorite players. I was there with a bunch…
Virtual World Best Practices in Education Conference starts tomorrow in SL
From March 27-29, the Virtual World Best Practices in Education Conference is taking place in Second Life. According to their website, this grassroots, community-based conference attracts faculty, instructors, trainers, administrators, instructional designers, and technical specialists from around the world. The virtual conference will "provide opportunities for virtual world communities to showcase projects, courses, events and…
Frankie Manning asks New Yorkers to host visitors for his birthday (video)
Here's a direct appeal from the man himself, Mr. Frankie Manning, asking New Yorkers to open up their homes to lindy hoppers visiting from all over the world for the Frankie Manning 95th Birthday Festival this May. The man has spoken.