I am in Chicago right now representing Global Kids, who is one of 17 recipients of a grant for our work on digital media and learning. We received $72,000 to support the creation of "RezEd" a new social networking site and blog to support educators who use virtual worlds and massively multiplayer online games for…
Category: Information Society
Video preview of “ICED” immigration computer game
I just threw together a quick video preview of the first level of the computer game "ICED," which I just posted about on this blog. "ICED" — which stands for "I Can End Deportation" — allows the player to step into the shoes of five immigrant teens and find out what it takes to avoid…
“ICED” computer game teaches about US immigration laws
Heidi Boisvert, the lead designer of the "ICED" computer game, sends us news that "ICED" has been officially released for download, after more than two years of work. "ICED" — which stands for "I Can End Deportation" — allows the player to step into the shoes of five immigrant teens and find out what it…
Learning for Failure: The MacArthur Digital Media & Learning Grantee Meeting
I had the honor of being among a small of incredibly smart, dedicated researchers and practitioners who are all supported by the Digital Media and Learning Initiative of the MacArthur Foundation. About 70 of us gathered from Thursday to Friday at USC to talk about issues of common concern, share progress on our respective projects,…
Second Life Screenshots, the DMCA and Ad Extortion — I want a takedown notice!
My friend RubyMae, who is active in the Flickr community, pointed me to a discussion thread by another Second Life resident Ordinal Malaprop (who makes the most ingenious steampunk inventions). Apparently Ordinal has been encouraging SL residents to post to a Flickr group screenshots of particular ads being displayed on plots of land in Second…
CPSR Conference on Technology in Wartime at Stanford January 26
My friend Bill McIver send around info about this fascinating conference on "Technology in Wartime" put on by the find folks at Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility. It takes place at Stanford Law School on January 26. Here’s the description: How will autonomous robots and cyberwarfare change combat? Does internet surveillance undermine the rules of…
YouTube Battle
True story: At our family Christmas party, my sister Cori is talking to my cousin Rafael, who’s a university student in California. She asks Rafael what he is up to. He mentions that he is part of a hip hop dance group. "Oh, my brother is in a breakdance group, too. You guys should battle!"…
XO Laptop versus Apple eMate
My XO laptop arrived in the mail today! From my first couple of hours experimenting, I can tell that it’s an impressive little machine. I look forward to playing with it for the next weeks, which I will be sure and blog about. One of the first things I did was put the XO side-by-side…
Review: Castronova’s Exodus to the Virtual World
I just finished my advance copy of Edward Castronova’s Exodus to the Virtual World: How Online Fun is Changing Reality (2007, Palgrave McMillan.) As anyone familiar with Costronova should expect, the book is provocative and entertaining. Costronova’s central premise is simple: as more and more people spend a larger percentage of their waking hours in…
Holiday cards and other emphemera in the digital age
By Dazed81, re-posted under a CC-license Sending out holiday cards is a favorite Christmas tradition of mine. For almost 20 years, I have gone to some effort to design, print and hand-write notes on the 50-plus holiday cards I typically send out. That said, holiday cards are starting to seem like an antiquated custom from…