Just a reminder that my friends at Citizens for Global Solutions have created a cool website called "08 or Bust" that tracks the positions of each of the major candidates for the US presidency on a range of international issues. The heart of the website is an interactive comparison chart that allows you to pull…
Author:
Leveraging virtual worlds for civic action
One of the main reasons we created the International Justice Center in Second Life was to explore the challenge posed by MacArthur President Jonathan Fanton last year, who asked, "Might not there be a group in Second Life that could come together to educate itself about the ICC and organize a campaign to persuade public…
Video: Sweet Machinima Intro to Second Life for US Congressional Hearing
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…
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!