I am proud to announce that the fourth annual Machinima Festival, happening from November 4-5 at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens, will also be taking place in Second Life. With a record four Second Life machinima artists being nominated for awards at the Festival, and the interest in machinima both in…
Category: Virtual Worlds
DestroyTV: bootleg awesomeness
DestroyTV is an impressive project put together by the Electric Sheep Company to create an interactive web window into the virtual world of Second Life. Basically you can see through the eyes of an avatar in Second Life, move her around a bit, and even chat with other avatars in the area. All from your…
Making my doppelganger: getting closer!
Man, it’s tough making an avatar that actually looks like you. Which I guess is why people have jobs making avatars for other people. After struggling with the somewhat maddening slider controls this weekend, I think I’m getting closer. You be the judge. My girlfriend has already critiqued it: "Your jaw is more square and…
Castronova announces Shakespearean MMORPG
In a surprise announcement, Prof. Ted Castronova of Indiana University clarified today his earlier statement that he was building a virtual world based on the texts of William Shakespeare. "Some have asked me whether anyone will be interested in visiting 3D representations of plays that they were forced to read in high school and have…
“Does this avatar make my butt look big?”: the perils of creating your girlfriend’s avatar
I’ve somehow been tasked with creating my girlfriend Cindy’s avatar in Second Life. Some guys might think it sounds fun to re-create your girlfriend in whatever dimensions, shape, hairstyle and outfit you want. Let me tell you, it’s no picnic. How exactly does one safely respond to, "Why did you make me so ugly?"
MacArthur Digital Learning event today (webcast and SL broadcast)
The MacArthur Foundation announced today at the Museum of Natural History their new initiative to provide $50 million to fund universities and non-profits for work on using technology for education. I’m at the press conference right now. Here’s the details on how to connect from the web and Second Life: Thursday, October 19, 2006 ,10:00…
Second Life hits a million+ registrants!
Yes, I know it doesn’t mean there are 1 million RESIDENTS, still 1 million REGISTRANTS is still a pretty big deal, at least as a sign of the media-savviness and popular culture invasion of Second Life. Pretty much every day I’m running into newbs who just registered that morning, wandering around, looking for the porn…
“And the nominees are”: Four SL Machinimists up for “Mackies” awards
The Academy of Machinima Arts and Sciences has released the nominees for this years "Mackies" machinima awards. An impressive number of the digital films include works by Second Life machinimists, including: "Game Over" by Pierce Portocarrero nominated for Best Technical Achievement and Best Visual Design "Silver Bells and Golden Spurs" by Eric Call nominated for…
My stuff on the Internets today
Just a quick note about a couple things I’ve been involved with that are on the series of tubes today: My latest Second Life "Event Picks" are on New World Notes. Notably, Witness, the "indie hip hop" artist, is playing tomorrow night. He’s definitely got some flow, so check out his MySpace page. Also the…
Your tax dollars at work: US government regulation of virtual worlds
Reuters (now with their own Second Life Bureau desk!) reports that the US Congress is considering how virtual economies such as those within Second Life and World of Warcraft interact with US tax code. According to federal economist Dan Miller: Right now we’re at the preliminary stages of looking at the issue and what kind…