I'm in the Schipol airport in the Netherlands waiting for my flight back to the States, successfully completing my mission to help my friends conceive a child. The process so far was relatively painless and smooth, even though this was done at a large public Dutch hospital involving several departments. Pretty much everyone we dealt…
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Donating Sperm at a Dutch Fertility Clinic
I had an interesting day spent mostly at one of the main public hospitals in Amsterdam, fulfilling my role as the "known sperm donor" for a couple of friends of mine. It began, strangely enough, with the actual donation. I met the nice lab tech guy named Cor, who handed me a plastic cup and…
Meta-gaming: My Second Life avatar playing video games
Just when I thought I had seen everything in Second Life, I stumbled upon a Second Life Wii-style game system called "Pineplay." It's the first time I've encountered a game where I have to control my avatar who is himself controlling the game character in a simulated console game. It reminded me of that infamous…
Hoofprint or vulva? You decide.
I had a lovely day at the American Museum of Natural History seeing IMAX movies and catching up on the exhibits there. In the "Hall of Human Origins" I saw this bit of ancient art from France that's apparently more than 30,000 years old! The placard says that this is a "vulva or hoofprint engraved…
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Barry’s muppet doppelganger
My colleague Joyce just got our boss Barry a custom-made muppet, which we're all very excited about. Barry most of all.True, Barry is not exactly the leather jacket type. But otherwise, he's the spitting image of him. Barry already has his muppet hard at work representing him when he steps away from his desk. Most…
Rafi in awesomest Olan Mills photo collection ever
On Yehoodi, my friend Beckto posted a link to the awesomest display of Olan Mills/KMart photo studio portraits ever assembled on the interwebs. I feel justified in laughing at these, since I certainly have my own gems that I've posted in the past. Scanning through the horrifying and hilarious portraits, I found this one above. …
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I love public speaking. Among the topics I’m particularly qualified to speak on: STEM Learning Digital Learning Virtual Education I have addressed a range of audiences and events, from keynoting the Second Life Community Convention, to speaking to 250 non-governmental organizations in the UN General Assembly, and addressing tech companies and non-profits at Cisco Systems headquarters. I’m…
College pic of me and roommates in ugly ties
My roommates Andy, Baber and me circa 1990, Los Angeles. I don’t remember why my roommates Andy, Baber and I are wearing identical outfits with incredibly ugly ties. All I know is that this picture from around 1990 makes me very happy. Yes, those glasses are bigger than my head. I think I wore them…
What to get for the wedding couple that has everything?
I feel like I’ve been to a slew of weddings over the past couple of months of 30-ish to 40-ish couples who are already well-established in their lives together. Which is lovely, and I totally dig it. I find myself at these weddings have a much better time because the newlyweds are usually freaking out…