The kids at Penn State every year throw an amazing dance marathon called simply "The THON" to benefit pediatric cancer care at at the Penn State Children’s Hospital. They have raised $41 million over the past 31 years! This year, the benefit has gone virtual, with a host of in-world concerts to raise funds taking…
Category: Virtual Worlds
What Second Life Needs: a Custom Keypad
This is a concept I’ve been thinking about for awhile. I think what SL could use is a custom keypad with all the main functions mapped right onto clearly marked and accessibly placed keys. I’ve done a basic mock-up of what this might look like, using the Fang Gamepad as a template. Click on the…
Electric Sheep and Ill Clan: two great tastes that taste great together
I just got word from my buddy Frankyboy that his machinima crew Ill Clan Productions have teamed up with the virtual world marketing group the Electric Sheep Company as their resident in-house machinimators. I’m a huge fan of Ill Clan’s work, especially "Trash Talk", so I’m super excited to see them creating more Second Life…
Second Life Unitarians ask “What does it mean to be a church?” (video)
My friend Otenth tells me that the religious group the Unitarian Universalists have been building an enormously successful presence in Second Life, their regular gatherings now pushing the limits of the Modesta sim they are in (teleport SLURL). The UUs, as they are affectionately called, have a number of similarities to Quakers, both coming out…
Thoughts on the first Quaker Meeting for Worship in Second Life
Yesterday I attending the first Quaker meeting for worship in Second Life, organized by Otenth Paderborn, a real life Quaker from the Boston-area. It was an intimate gathering of a dozen or so avatars from all over, most of whom appeared to be members or attenders of Quaker meetings where they lived in the real…
The virtual world is starting to look more like the real one
Vive l’Europe! Adam Reuter’s reports that there are now more Europeans than Americans in Second Life, with 54% of the active users in January being from Europe and 31% from the US. Here’s the full breakdown from January: United States 31.19% France 12.73% Germany 10.46% United Kingdom 8.09% Netherlands 6.55% Spain 3.83% Brazil 3.77% Canada…
Video of Holocaust Museum briefing on Darfur in Second Life
My friend In Kenzo passes on to me an incredible video of the in-world briefing on the genocide in Darfur organized by the US Holocaust Museum that took place last month. The video features a very skillful and powerful juxtaposition of in-world footage and images from Sudanese refugee camps. Makes me want to work on…
A face only a Martian mother would love
I rather like this picture of my avatar, taken at the Live Without Boundaries sim.
The Phoenix article on Second Life and real world politics
Sara Donnelly wrote an interesting and lengthy piece in The Phoenix on Second Life and political action entitled "Out-of-Body Politic." I must have been in a grinchy mood because I said some pretty unpolitic things about Second Life activism: “SL ‘protests’ are really just cop-outs for people who don’t want to show up in the…
Ted Castronova announces “Videogames and Public Policy” conference June 22-23 at Indiana U
Just got word that the Synthetic Worlds Initiative at Indiana University, headed by Dr Edward Castronova, is hosting a conference on "Videogames and Public Policy" tentatively scheduled for June 22-23. The format sounds like a complete hoot and a half: The theme will be explored through a game that puts participants in a 19th century…