It has been a long time coming, but I have finally decided to launch the new website Betterverse.org, dedicated to chronicling the burgeoning nonprofit and public good sector in the virtual world. I have been involved in various nonprofit experiments in the virtual world since 2006, and have been astounded by the incredible diversity, creativity…
Ken Swift: “We are destroying our bodies to do what we do.”
"We are the hardest working artists in hip-hop because we are literally destroying our bodies to do what we do." – Ken Swift, legendary b-boy, talking about breaking at "Gems" Class, July 2009
The Digital Quaker: What it means to be a Friend in the Information Society
This morning at Meeting for Worship at the Friends Meeting of Brooklyn, I was thinking about how analog our worship services are. There's almost no modern technology involved at all except for electric lights and maybe an oscillating fan in the summer. There's no amplifier, microphones, television or computer monitors, or other digital technology found…
5 b-boy crews from 3 continents gather for “Hip Hop Generation Next” at Lincoln Center August 6!
I'm pretty excited about the "Hip Hop Generation Next" event at Lincoln Center on August 6. It's an amazingly dope line-up of crews representing b-boying from all over the world: From New York City and Chicago to South Korea and Sierra Leone, five crews from three continents reinvent hip hop dancing with breathtaking virtuosity, jawdropping…
Street style + vintage cool: Vans “Wingtip Era” sneakers
Vans has come out with a new line of "classic" shoes, cashing in on the retro sneaker fetish that seems to be all the rage. After hitting up the site, and surfing around the retro sneaker blogosphere (yes, this exists), I found a pair that I just had to have: the "Wingtip Era" two-tone sneakers….
Mole likes catgrass (video)
Here's my cat Mole enjoying his daily breakfast of catgrass from my window sill. Mmm, catgrass!
“Tron Legacy” trailer released (video) OMG!
The original "Tron" was a very formative movie for me as a teenager. I remember walking out of the theaters being so excited about the possibilities for computer graphics and simulations, and really wanting to be able to program animations like that. It inspired me to join the computer club in school, to convince my…
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…
Amnesty International’s Josh Rubenstein speaking in Second Life on Thursday
This Thursday, July 23, the Second Life talk show "Virtually Speaking" will be doing an entire show on the work of Amnesty International. Starting with at 3:45pm PST, the show will feature interviews with millay Freschi, Virtual Worlds Coordinator for Amnesty International, and Josh Rubenstein, NE Regional Director of Amnesty International. About Josh: As the…
I Dig Zambia Wrap-up: teaching about Africa and science using virtual worlds
Last Friday was the conclusion of the “I Dig Zambia” virtual summer camp, co-organized by the Field Museum and Global Kids. I Dig Zambia was a two-week camp that brought together 19 teens from Chicago and New York to learn about paleontology, biology, and Zambian culture and politics in the virtual world of Teen Second…