I just found out about a new book on Human Rights in the Global Information Society edited by my friend Rikke Frank Jørgensen. Published by MIT Press, the contributors to this volume examine the links between information technology and human rights from a range of disciplinary perspectives. Scholars, human rights activists, and practitioners discuss such…
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Kofi warns of UN budget crisis in July
Kofi Annan has issued a warning that unless the budget cap is lifted, the United Nations will face a severe budget crisis in July. Last year, the UN General Assembly’s Fifth Committee, which is responsible for setting the UN’s overall programme budget, only approved funding for the institution until the middle of 2006, with the…
Snapzilla protests SL reg policies
My man Hamlet served up some juicy political drama this morning on New World Notes. Cristiano Midnight, the owner of the Second Life photo hosting service "Snapzilla" as well as its parent site SL Universe, has just taken down his websites in protest of Linden Lab‘s new registration procedures that he says opens the floodgates…
Happy Birthday, Second Life!
Tomorrow marks the third anniversary of the virtual world Second Life, which is celebrating in high style with a host of events over the next few days from live DJed dances to parades to keynote addresses by Philip and Robin Linden (the CEO and VP of Linden Labs, respectively.) Today my pal Illbixby of Ill…
American < yawn > Apparel in Second Life: virtual boredom on your desktop!
Apparently the blogorati are abuzz about clothing retailer American Apparel opening a virtual store in Second Life. Even CNET is reporting on the store opening. Designed by the talented Aimee Weber, the new store will feature, well, clothes and other store stuff. Like a cash register. Woo hoo! A CASH REGISTER! All in a…
Browncoats + feminists = Whedonesque Heaven
What do you get when you cross feminist activism and scifi nerdom? Apparently the perfect Friday night entertainment. The fan club the “Browncoats of NYC” have put together a benefit showing of the brilliant 2005 scifi flick “Serenity” at the Cinema Village theater in the East Village this Friday night. But this isn’t just pure…
New Net Neutrality Video: This Land is Your Land
I just a tip from the Media Policy Blog about a new video on Net Neutrality called "This Land is Your Land" created by Robert Oschler. It’s based on the Woody Guthrie song of the same name, and uses video from a CC-licenced CGI animated short called "Elephant Dreams". Robert’s revised lyrics are hysterical: They’ll…
Video re-mix of re-mixed art event in SL
I just ran across a fun remix video created by In Kenzo called “Everything is Transformable”. The short video piece is based on the remixed art event I participated in last week, sponsored by Free Culture and Creative Commons. There’s some cool footage of my avatar wearing the Net Neutrality shirt I designed, not to…
GAM3R 7H30RY and the future of the book
Just got sent a link to a new book called GAM3R 7H30RY by Mackenzie Wark, the author of the "Hacker Manifesto." The book is exciting for a number of reasons. First, it’s a fanciful and erudite set of musings on two basic questions about computer and online gaming: can we explore games as allegories for…
SL Spaceflight Museum, Part II: creating wonder in 3D
I returned last night to check out the rest of the Spaceflight Museum in Second Life. In my first visit, I remarked that this sim showed the enormous potential of Second Life for education. What I didn’t mention was the power of Second Life to inspire and evoke powerful feelings. Last night, my friend Beckto…