Beating "CSI:NY" to the virtual punch, "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" tonight features a sex crime linked to a remarkably Second Life-looking virtual world called "AOI". As described by a character in the preview: "People do everything in AOI: they build houses, gamble, dance, have sex." All, of course is not well in AOI,…
Category: Virtual Worlds
Enabling remote participation at the Rio Internet Governance Forum: blogging and virtual worlds
Brazilian blogger and researcher Jose Murilo Junior posts an interesting set of questions regarding how to enable effective remote participation at the upcoming Internet Governance Forum in Rio de Janiero in November. Jose references my thinking on this subject at the IGF in Athens last year. Here’s my new response to Jose: event blogging and…
Second Life demos in solidarity with Burma tomorrow (saturday)
Like millions of others, I am shocked and horrified with what is happening in Burma / Myanmar. The nearly complete isolation of the small country makes it virtually impervious to outside public pressure, short of military invasion. I have long been an admirer of dissident Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi, back in 1999 when…
Update on “Pink for Life” mixed-reality breast cancer charity event
Wow, there is like a ton of in-world activity going on around cancer lately. Here’s yet another cancer-related benefit coming up in October. Yogi Huldschinsky, the organizer of an upcoming charity event entitled "Pink for Life," contacted me regarding some changes to their mixed-reality event, which I have blogged about previously. "Pink for Life" is…
Is the new Newt the great uniter? (Thoughts on Gingrich’s first foray into Second Life)
This afternoon, former Speaker of the House and head of the group American Solutions for Winning the Future, Newt Gingrich spoke briefly and answered questions from an audience of 50-some avatars in Second Life. Located appropriately enough on the steps of the virtual Capitol Hill (teleport SLURL), Gingrich spoke about a number of issues, including…
Shava Nerad: “My purpose is to educate, evangelize, and occasionally blow someone’s mind”
Shava Nerad, Development Director of the TOR Project, is my new hero. Shava posted a couple of cogent and eloquent email responses in the midst of a debate on the SL non-profits listserv. Listserv members were arguing about whether or not activist groups were being co-opted by investing time and energy in a world dominated…
UK cancer support group Macmillan launches Second Life fundraiser campaign on Friday
This Friday, September 28, the UK-based Macmillan Cancer Support charity will be launching a Second Life version of their "World’s Biggest Coffee Morning" fundraiser, that has to date raised more than $13.5 million to support people affected by cancer. The newly opened Macmillan cancer information centre (teleport SLURL) will be equally about fundraising and awareness-raising. …
Time for a Second Life non-profit job fair?
I just found this event notice on Eventful about the Dutch bank ABN-AMRO recruiting new employees on their Second Life island tomorrow. Several other tech firms like Microsoft and T-mobile have done similar in-world job fairs, which makes sense if they are looking for a particular brand of creative geek. Which makes me think that…
Global Aid Foundation seeks NGO partners to manage shared island in Second Life
I received this appeal from the Global Aid Foundation for help in keeping their sim Castella (teleport SLURL) alive: Global Aid Foundation has diligently been trying to establish a base of operations for our organization and to serve as well as a platform for other NGO’s. After almost a year of presence in SL and…
My new moo cards: The right hat is essential for the well-dressed avatar
My new batch of moo cards arrived in the mail on Friday. They are teh awesome!