Musings on Dance, Food, Geek Stuff
It is always useful for me to learn how other Quakers get themselves into the meditative state that we call “centering down.” When Quakers gather during our Meetings for Worship, we are seeking to be in a calm, quiet, reflective, receptive state. In our rushed, complicated lives, achieving this state of “expectant waiting” is not…
America's Best Dance Crew (Season 3) – MTV Shows I don't watch network or cable TV. What with Netflix (DVDs and streaming), Hulu, iTunes, YouTube, etc., I don't feel like I am missing out much. That said, I really wish I had cable so I could watch "America's Best Dance Crew" in its full, non.jpgxelated…
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending the event "Understanding Islam through Virtual Worlds" at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs with about 50 other people. The gathering featured Rita King and Joshua Fouts discussing their project to research how Muslims have been using virtual worlds, particularly Second Life, as a medium to…
I found this oddly illustrated display at the New York Hall of Science in Queens during a visit here today. What do you think this drawing means?
My buddy Draxtor Despres filed his first story for PBS's "Frontline/World" show today, about human rights advocacy within Second Life. Drax focused his reporting on the Virtual Gitmo camp created by Nonny de la Peña and Peggy Weil. And he describes the somewhat mixed reception he got from other human rights activists in Paris when…
I got a chance to read over the interesting but sobering Virtual Worlds Management Industry Forecast 2009 which came out earlier this week. This report collected responses from over 60 industry executives, analysts, observers, and "thought leaders" on what the coming year holds for the virtual worlds industry. (Notable companies not represented in this survey…
I got an opportunity to speak about Global Kids's approach to youth development and the kinds of services we offer other institutions at "Nonprofit Week" on Orange Island in Second Life today. It was neat being among the 150 or so avatars who rezzed in for the talks today by my friends Coughran Mayo and…
Yesterday, January 26, 2009, the long-delayed trial of Thomas Lubanga finally began at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The first trial of the ICC, Lubanga is accused of having committed war crimes consisting of conscripting child soldiers into his militia, the "Forces patriotiques pour la libération du Congo" in the Democratic Republic of…
The New York Times has an interesting article from a few days ago about how young people are using YouTube as their primary search engine for finding information on the internet. Entitled "At First, Funny Videos. Now, a Reference Tool," the report describes how kids are increasingly seeking all sorts of knowledge on this extremely…
There's been a flurry of debates going on within the Second Life blogosphere, in-world, and elsewhere about the possibility of Linden Lab integrating the Teen and Adults-only spaces in the virtual world of Second Life. This all erupted after Philip Linden, founder and chairman of Linden Lab, revealled in a recent Metanomics show that a…