Cool dude Barry Joseph (aka "Globalkids Bixby" in SL) at Global Kids sends along a job opening at the Online Leadership Program of this innovative New York-based youth organization. They are looking for a program associate to help develop and run workshops for teens in person and in the virtual Teen Grid of Second Life. The…
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Jnana helps dumb people build smart agents
Just got back from a presentation in SL by Lex Lardner of his "Jnana" smart agent builder, a powerful application that enables non-programmers to create a set of dialog menus using simple logic and query-answer statements. (Full transcript provided by Signpostmarv.) Lex showed us how easy it was by building a quick set of dialog…
Web-mediated shopping: My Space closing on Google
The Center for Media Research reports on recent numbers from the web statistics site Hitwise, which indicate that search engines are still the primary drivers of shopping traffic, but that social networking sites are catching up. Google of course is still the leader in online retail visits, at 14% of all shopping traffic. But Myspace…
Addicted to virtual worlds? No really, I can quit any time
Are you addicted to Everquest (i.e. Evercrack), Warcraft, Second Life, There, and/or Ultima? You won’t be alone, says a new survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Pew surveyed 742 "internet leaders, activists, builders and commentators," asking them about the effect of the internet on social, political and economic life in the year…
Playing with Alt-Zoom’s tracking camera
I read on New World Notes about the free Alt-Zoom camera being promoted by machinimaniac Moo Money. Moo posted a cool video on YouTube that consisely and clearly demonstrates how to use this in-world video camera. I decided to give it a spin tonight, and finally got it to take a very basic tracking shot…
Mole the Mouser
My cat Mole Negro just turned one year old. He’s a wonderful companion, friendly, playful and well behaved with strangers. One of my main motivations for getting him was to deal with our little mouse problem. Mole is a terrific mouser, patrolling the kitchen and front door, where the little vermin tend to enter and…
Second Life travel guide in WIRED mag
The october issue of WIRED Magazine has a pretty sweet spread on Second Life, including a brief history of the virtual world, its economy, where to shop, how to have sex, what games you can play, and even some profiles on some of the criminal element that have been banned from SL. I like the…
Uncovering an old 9/11 online discussion
During 9/11, many people turned to their families and friends for comfort and security in those frightening first hours and days after the attacks. And many many people turned to the internet. On the swing dance website I moderate called Yehoodi.com, many people in the swing community gathered in our discussion boards to share what…
Knight Foundation announces $5 million grant for “community journalism in cyberspace”
The Knight Foundation recently announced that they are launching a new $5 million fund for innovative community journalism in cyberspace called the ‘Knight Brothers 21st Century News Challenge.’ The grant program will provide funding for "new ideas, prototypes, products and leadership initiatives that use innovative news methods to help citizens better connect within their communities."…
Slider hair is for dorks
Just got a new ‘do, to replace my super-newb "slider hair" that I’ve been sporting for way too long. I’ve always wanted white hair actually, although perhaps not with enormous antennae. More exciting self-portraiture after the jump…