I was riding my Brompton folding bike home today, when a sudden thunderstorm forced me under an awning in Chinatown. As I was checking my mail on my phone, I heard some tapping behind me. This guy in the closed up shop I was standing in front of was gesturing at my bike and gave…
Movits: cool Swedish hip-hop jazz (video)
My friends on Yehoodi have been posting about this Swedish band Movits, who apparently are playing in town this week. I love the sound of this song from their latest album. And gotta give them props for including the Swedish lindy hop troupe the Harlem Hot Shots in the video!
Global Kids Professional Development: Learn how to engage youth on global issues using virtual worlds, games and machinima
You might not know, but my organization Global Kids not only does some of the most innovative virtual world, serious gaming, and digital filmmaking youth programs out there, but we also help other educators adopt our methods for their kids. Global Kids offers a range of professional services and professional development including standards-based training for…
Announcing Betterverse.org: Covering the intersection of the public sector and the metaverse
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…