sliced sf skyline Originally uploaded by on2wheelz. I’m in the San Francisco Bay Area for a few days, to get my lasik-ed eyes looked at by my optomitrist and spend some long-past-due family time. I was actually expecting to go under the laser again today, but my doctor told me yesterday that he didn’t think…
Category: Travel
Meet me at the Casbah: Pics from Virtual Morocco
About a month ago I visited the Casablanca sim (teleport SLURL), a jaw-dropping recreation of Morocco, from the souk market to the mosque to the detailed tilework. Created as an initiative of faculty and students at Johnson and Wales University in partnership with the Moroccan ministry of tourism, it’s a must see build. I took…
Barbecued lamb riblets at Rendezvous… be still my fat-clogged heart
I’ve had barbeque for three days in a row in Memphis. But the penultimate ‘que experience I’ve had here is the lamb riblets at Charles Vergo’s Rendezvous Charcoal Ribs. Dry-rubbed, tender, fatty and crispy on the outside. Simply awesome. Warning: Don’t click on the image if you aren’t near a decent bbq place.
Off to Memphis for the weekend
I’m off to Memphis tomorrow to participate in the National Conference on Media Reform, put on by Free Press. And as excited as I am to be with 3,000 media activists, researchers and policy-makers, right now I just want me some Memphis barbeque. I have fantasies about making it out to Graceland, but I think…
Real World Places in Second Life #13: Ancient Rome
Torin Golding’s outstanding sim called simply "Roma" (teleport SLURL) is a feast for the senses and a powerful demonstration of the potential for virtual environments to immerse you in historic places.
Real World Places in Second Life #12: Virtual Morocco!
I just ran across an amazing new build called "Virtual Morocco" on the Casablanca sim (teleport SLURL). Created as an initiative of faculty and students at Johnson and Wales University in partnership with the Moroccan ministry of tourism, Virtual Morocco is one of the most immersive real world places in Second Life that I’ve ever…
“Real Life Places in SL” HUD
I just finished playing with the new open-sourced TourHUD created by the Electric Sheep Company for the GSD&M ad agency. The Tour HUD ("heads up display") is a very easy-to-use tool for creating your own custom tours of various spots in Second Life. There are already two — one for newbie-friendly areas and another of…
More virtual reality coolness from Stephane Zugzwang
And you thought Second Life could not get any cooler? In Kenzo TPed me over to an incredible, enormous virtual reality simulator on Commonwealth Island built by Stephane Zugzwang. You stand on a small suspended, semi-opaque platform high above a mountain range. As you click on a large sampling of images on a floating screen,…
The dirty, decaying, chaotic pleasures of Athens
After the frenzy of the Internet Governance Forum, I decided to spend a couple of days in Athens getting to know the city. Athens seemed like just the kind of place that I would like — full of rich history and urban grit. I had few preconceived notions about Athens, just a desire to see…
Internet Governance Forum, uh, Forums
Rushing rushing rushing to put together the materials I’m going to need for my presentations at the Internet Governance Forum next week in Athens. The main focus of my talks will be on creating new modalities for broadbased participation in internet policy through various communications and information technologies. What is interesting is that there are…